Such Sweethearts
by Lily Orange
Summary: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Lily and James were not the only ones with a love/hate relationship...
1. Prologue

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: This was my first ever fan fiction I ever wrote for Harry Potter - I wrote it around Easter time this year and all my friends have already read it because I sent it to them, chapter by chapter, in emails; for my birthday this year they got me the best birthday present anybody could have ever given me as they all together got a copy of it made into a proper book so I have a copy of it at home which I love them for!! Therefore this chapter is dedicated to them!

* * *

**_Prologue_**

**"THE BOY WITH THE UNTIDY HAIR!"**

I surveyed myself in the mirror once more. Normally, the mirror in our hall, I bypass everyday without a look – it's Petunia's job to tell me what a state I look every morning at breakfast. She was my best friend until a month or so ago – but now, regardless of the fact that she is my sister, she has unkindly labelled me a 'freak'.

In my opinion, I didn't look a freak, whatever the definition of freak looks like. I was wearing my normal clothes – today, blue jeans, a cream t-shirt with an olive-coloured jumper and silvery shoes. The olive green jumper complimented my red hair perfectly. I smiled, and my reflection smiled back at me. My green eyes sparkled. No way, no matter what Petunia said, was I, Lily Evans, a freak.

"Lily, are you ready love?" I heard my mum call.

"Yes!" I shouted back excitedly. She and my dad came wandering into the hall, with smiles much like my own beaming warmly on their faces.

"We'd better go then – have you got your letter?" Dad asked. I nodded.

Just as we were about to exit via the front door, the sound of footsteps came bounding down the stairs behind us – I turned around. My sister, Petunia, was standing there, with her arms folded, and an unattractive scowl etched onto her bony face.

"Petunia, will you be all right on your own, dear?" Mum questioned her kindly.

"I'll be fine, away from that _freak_," Petunia spat back, looking directly at me – the emphasis she placed on her superfluous nickname for me hurtful.

"Petunia..." Dad said in a warning voice.

"Sorry, _Lily_," she said – her words full of scorn and malice. My mum had warned me that the way Petunia was acting towards me was because of jealousy. She also told me in confidence that Petunia had written to Professor Dumbledore, of Hogwarts, to request a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – Professor Dumbledore had replied, and written a very nice letter, but politely told her that she possessed no magical abilities therefore could not attend. I pitied her – but her spiteful comments were making me feel less sorry for her every day.

Petunia turned to Mum. "Can I go to Vernon's?" she inquired.

"I suppose so," Mum agreed, reluctantly. "Remember not to say a word about Lily." Petunia nodded.

Vernon was Petunia's boyfriend – he was ugly, fat, mean and rude. Yet Petunia seemed to think that the sun shone out of his every surface. Quite literally. He lived in the same village as us, a few roads away. Petunia, at thirteen, was deemed old enough to lock up the house and go to his.

I don't know what she saw in him – he attended Smelting's, a strange boys' school where they wore maroon knickerbockers and boater hats, and had canes to hit each other with. It sounded most peculiarly barbaric to me, but Petunia was smitten with him ever since he bought her an ice cream at the park. Not that she particularly likes ice cream, and she dumped it in a flower pot when he wasn't looking, but she thought the gesture was kind. In my opinion, Vernon did not need any more ice cream.

"Okay, thanks, bye," she said hurriedly, running back upstairs to get ready. We left.

In my letter from Hogwarts, it had explained that I was a witch, and would be going to this prestigious secret magic school. This was something I was in awe of – my mum and dad could not think of any relation we had that had been to Hogwarts. This was explained also in my letter, with directions to a place called Diagon Alley, where I could buy all my school things. Apparently, we had to go to a pub called the Leaky Cauldron, and at the bar, ask for Tom, show him my letter, and he would show us how to get there.

It did not take us long to get to the Leaky Cauldron – although we live in a village, it is only about half an hour from London by car, and the Leaky Cauldron was on the outskirts of the city centre, and easily accessible.

Walking into the pub, it was like nothing I had ever seen before. It was dark and dingy, but somehow welcoming at the same time when you entered. On the outside, however, you almost walked past it, it was so discrete!

It was the people crowded round the little wooden tables, and around the bar. There were people dressed in clothes like the ones me and my parents were wearing; there were people doing magic; there were people wearing the strangest ensembles of clothes I had ever come across – one woman was wearing electric blue platform boots with a stripy dress that looked suspiciously like an old-fashioned swimming costume, and a yeti-style fur coat over the top. There was one table in the far corner with a solitary witch sat by it, with her hood pulled right over her head and reading a newspaper entitled, '_The Daily Prophet_'.

"Was it the bar we had to go to, Lily?" Dad asked nervously. I consulted my letter.

"Yes," I replied, and confidently strolled up to the bar – when I finally found a gap in the bar, I asked meekly for Tom. A small, hunch back man grinned toothily at me and professed himself to be Tom. I showed him my letter, and asked him if he could direct me and my parents to Diagon Alley.

Surprisingly, Tom was very nice.

I could hear my mum and dad whispering to each other about whether Severus had this sort of trouble (Severus was my friend who was also to be attending Hogwarts – something I had never known before, but his mother was a witch) whilst we were following Tom out to the back of the pub.

"So, are you muggle-born then?" Tom questioned me in a very raspy, deep voice.

"What's a muggle?" I asked timidly.

"I think you must be," he chuckled, before explaining, "a muggle is a non-magic person."

"Oh yes," I smiled back, "I am. Is that good, or bad?" I suddenly thought aloud, worried.

"Most folks don't bother, it's only the bad ones that do. My advice is to read your school books to find out about wizardry – don't panic yourself, they're very interesting," Tom advised me.

We went through a door, to the area where the bins were. My parents looked suddenly very panic-stricken, like Tom was part of a huge fake Hogwarts conspiracy where they kidnapped children and parents and stuffed them in the bins of the Leaky Cauldron.

Tom produced a _wand_ out of his pocket, and tapped some of the bricks on the wall in an obviously significant sequence. The bricks immediately sprang apart, to form an archway into a street, busy with people and lined with interesting shops. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it!

My parents thanked Tom, as did I.

"What's your name?" Tom asked, just before he left.

"Lily," I replied.

"Well, Lily, I hope you have a brilliant time," he smiled, and then walked off. When we had entered this magical street – which I presumed correctly to be Diagon Alley – the bricks behind us went back to being a solid wall. It was amazing.

"What's on the list, love?" Mum said.

I handed it to her, too much in awe of everything before me to speak.

They lead me past the different shops, on the way to the bank, so that we could exchange our money for wizard currency. The names of them entranced me – _Ollivanders ... Flourish and Blotts ... Madam Malkin's ... _it was all so fascinating.

We stopped when we came to a large white building, fashioned out of marble, looking beautifully antique and old – with the letters 'GRINGOTTS – WIZARDS' BANK' engraved into it. My parents hurried me in, but as we walked out of the entrance foyer, I saw some kind of poem inscribed into the wall. This was actually amazing.

"Er, Lily, what are those things behind the desks?" Dad whispered in my ear cautiously.

Mum consulted the letter. "Goblins, dear," she replied as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Oh, right," he said, nonplussed.

Mum marched up to the desk labelled 'MUGGLE TO WIZARD MONEY CURRENCY EXCHANGE' and placed the money she wished to have exchanged on the desk in front of this tiny but wise-looking goblin whose eyes were giving me the creeps.

"You wish to exchange this, madam?" the goblin asked.

"Yes please," she answered assertively. I had to admire her nerve.

"That'll be forty-five galleons" – he put a pile of large gold coins onto the table – "ten sickles" – he added a handful of slightly smaller silver coins to the growing pile – "and five knuts" – a small amount of bronze coins were placed on top – "madam; I shall put this in a bag for you. What is this girl's name?" he asked sharply but politely.

"Lily Evans," I told him timidly.

"Would you like to open an account for her here?" the goblin asked, handing over a velvet purse which he had stuffed the money into.

"No thank you, I will consider that later," my mum replied – she thanked the goblin and left. As we left, I paused by the inscription on the wall in the foyer, it said:

_Enter stranger, but take heed,_

_Of what awaits the sin of greed,_

_For those who take, but do not earn,_

_Must pay dearly in their turn,_

_So if you seek beneath our floors,_

_A treasure that was never yours,_

_Thief, you have been warned, beware_

_Of finding more than treasure there._

"Lily, come on!" Dad called, "We have to get your school things yet!"

I hurried after him.

Diagon Alley was packed – Severus had informed me the day before that he was going the next week, as the day we were going to Diagon Alley, he would be at his grandmother's. It would have been nice to see a familiar face there, even if most of the people milling around looked nice, pleasant people.

"I think we should get a wand first, it's pretty essential," Mum remarked as we retraced our steps back in the direction of Ollivander's.

When we got there, I noticed that one other family was in the shop – a mum, dad and a boy with black hair. Other than that, it was empty. We went in. As the family already in the shop heard the door close, the parents briefly nodded to mine, but the boy, who was obviously eleven like me, spun round fully to take in our appearance. He was quite a good-looking boy, even if his hair was rather scruffy. It was jet black, and even though I had only had him in my eyesight for about thirty seconds, he had run his hand through it twice, thus I assumed it an involuntary habit. His eyes were quite sparkly, and were hidden behind glasses. He was wearing clothes I would consider normal – not like the strange ensembles in the Leaky Cauldron. He smiled at me, and I smiled back.

There did not seem to be someone attending to him and his parents, but they did not seem bothered by this, and began to strike up a conversation with my parents, leaving the boy at the desk with me.

"Hi, Potter, James Potter," he introduced himself, holding out his hand.

"I'm Lily Evans," I said timorously, shaking his hand.

"Which house do you reckon you'll be in, Lily?" he asked politely. To anyone of magical breeding, this obviously would have meant something and probably would have sparked a three-hour conversation, but due to my lack of magical breeding, I did not have the foggiest to what he was going on about.

"House?" I replied in a questioning tone.

He nodded slowly at me, smirking slightly – which angered me a little.

"I don't know what a house is," I informed him prissily.

"Don't you know anything about Hogwarts, Evans?" he said, presuming that we were on such good terms that he could use my surname to address me.

"I'm muggle-born," I said, frowning at his audacious smile.

"Oh, well that explains it," he said. "We have four houses at Hogwarts – we get sorted into them and there's Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. They each have a common room and dorms where we sleep."

"I know what a dorm is, Potter," I said, slightly sharply – more sharply than I wanted to be. Inside I cursed myself for my impoliteness, but James Potter seemed to think it rather amusing.

He seemed to have a particular interest in me, and kept looking at me all the way through when he was buying his wand (made of mahogany, eleven inches). When he left the shop, he went, "See you on the first of September, Evans, I'll save you a seat!"

Even my mum noticed his strange fascination with me – she commented on it as we exited Diagon Alley, laden with bags and parcels full of school things – including my wand (made of willow, ten and a quarter inches). I supposed that, despite his insolence and audaciousness, he was rather nice and at least I'd know someone beside Severus.

* * *

_I hoped you liked it! Please review!_

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	2. September The First

**Such Sweethearts**

By Lily Orange

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: Thank you for the reviews on the Prologue chapter: tanny apple, Tabithatibi and sarlovesoccer! I hope you like the first proper chapter; and as you may have guessed I have the story already completely written so can post chapters pretty quickly for you to read! I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

**_Chapter One_**

**SEPTEMBER THE FIRST**

I woke up, excitedly, at half past four in the morning. Not wanting to wake anyone up, I tiptoed downstairs in my dressing-gown, pyjamas and slippers to get myself something to eat. I quickly made myself some toast, gobbled it down, and raced back upstairs to get dressed. During our conversation, James Potter had informed me not to dress in my robes until we were on the Hogwarts Express, the train taking us to school from Kings Cross Station, and to wear my normal clothes. He had also disclosed to me information of how to get onto Platform 9¾, which had astonished me greatly.

I pulled on a dark grey skirt with black tights, and a warm pale green jumper. I brushed my hair and fluffed it up slightly to make it look more presentable, and checked that everything was packed into my suitcase. It was.

Severus came round at nine o'clock, as my mum and dad had offered to take him to King's Cross with us. We left, me more excited that him about what to expect.

"So, Severus, what house will you be in, d'you reckon?" I babbled eagerly.

"Houses? How do you know about houses?" Severus asked inquisitively without a smile.

"When I was in Ollivander's, I met this boy called James and he was telling me about the houses and everything, it was really interesting, once I knew what they were I read up on them in Hogwarts: A History, and-" I began to explain.

"James what?" Severus interrupted.

"Potter," I said.

"Oh."

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing. What house did he say he'd be in?"

"He said Gryffindor, like his dad."

"Oh."

"What's the matter now?"

"Nothing."

"Right then," I said, slightly exasperated, "what house do you think you'll be in?"

"Slytherin."

"Now that's interesting, because..." I began, then abruptly stopped. I remembered what James Potter had said about Slytherins – it was a lot of derogatory insults that I shouldn't repeat to a prospective Slytherin, even if he was one of my close friends.

"What?" Severus asked brusquely.

"Oh, er, nothing... I hope I'm in either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor..." I said dreamily.

"Gryffindor? With Potter?"

"What is your problem with him? You don't even know him!" I cried irritably; then I remembered I had had a fair few problems with his audacity, but nevertheless, he had been nice.

"I don't know..." Severus offered.

I scowled. "You'll meet him on the Hogwarts Express anyway, I suppose."

"Do you like him or something?" Severus said maliciously.

"Well, he was a very nice person and very informative and very kind," I answered.

"He took a bit of a shine to you, Lily, even his mum and dad commented," Dad said. He was not helping.

Severus raised one eyebrow, and turned to look out of the window. We were nearly at King's Cross now, anyway.

Severus seemed to know a little of the barrier, but we were a bit unsure as to which column we had to run through to get to Platform 9¾ - I was getting a bit panicky when another boy came along, first year too, with shoulder-length dark curly hair, and attractive features; he had the same cheeky smile as Potter. I noticed that he was on his own, and I asked him whereabouts we had to go to get to the Platform.

"First year, right?" he asked. I nodded. Severus was standing a way off, next to my parents. "Me too. What's your name?"

"Lily Evans," I replied, "and you?"

"Sirius Black," he informed me, and then he noticed Severus standing in the background. "Who is he – is he your brother or something?"

"No," I answered. "He's my friend, he lives near me. He's called Severus Snape. Do you know the way we have to go, Sirius?"

"Yeah, follow me," he said confidently. We did. He chatted to me as we approached the correct pillar.

"Do you want to go through first, Lily?" he asked.

"Um..." I stammered nervously.

"I will," Severus announced, with quite a bit of self-importance enamelled into his speaking.

Proudly, he pushed his trolley, running at full pelt, towards the pillar. Suddenly –

BANG!!!!

"Oops, sorry, Severus, I must have got the wrong pillar," Sirius apologised, holding out a hand to help Severus up. He was sprawled across the floor, with his case on his foot, his owl cage balancing on his forehead and his robes wrapped round his middle. He did look a sight – and I swear I caught an ounce of humour in Sirius' voice when he said it, as if he _knew_ it wasn't the right pillar.

"I'm okay, thanks," Severus spat back at him, picking himself up and putting his belongings back on his trolley. Luckily, this event hadn't caused a crowd to gather. Something told me that Sirius and Severus would never get on now... Severus had a habit of holding grudges.

Sirius led us to the next pillar, which was the correct one thankfully. He went through first, but waited for me on the other side. Mum and Dad and Severus came through then – I stayed with Mum and Dad for a few minutes, Severus thanked them for bringing him, told me he'd see me in a bit in a rather frosty tone and stalked off with his trolley.

"I'd better go and find somewhere to sit," I eventually said; I kissed my parents goodbye, hugged them both, promised to write, and got on the train with my suitcase.

The Hogwarts Express was reasonably busy; it was a quarter to eleven, so not everyone was here yet, but I couldn't really see an empty carriage, or Severus. I was trundling, along, when I heard someone call my name.

"Lily! _Evans_!"

I turned round.

James Potter was running up behind me, free of his suitcase.

"I told you I'd save you a seat, come on!" he said, picking up my suitcase with much ease and racing off with it. I was about to say something about Severus, but then I remembered that Severus was in a mood with me so I left it, and followed James Potter obediently up the aisle to a carriage in which he disappeared. I peeped round the door, to see James' carriage only had two people in it – himself, and Sirius Black.

"Lily!" Sirius said warmly, as if we had known each other for our whole lives.

"Well, sit down, Evans!" James said, patting a space right next to him. I chose to sit by the window, which was not right by him, but on his side of the carriage.

"So... how is everybody?" James asked.

"Where's your friend, Lily?" Sirius asked me curiously.

"Friend – who's this then?" James joined in.

"He was in a mood after crashing into the pillar," I told them. Sirius started rolling around with laughter, and he looked so comical, that it made me and James laugh too, until the whole carriage was full of laughter.

"What did you do?" James asked, between laughs.

"I told him the wrong pillar, and he gallantly ran forward first – and went smack bang into it, and all his things were on top of him, it was hilarious!" Sirius spluttered.

James fell on the floor he was giggling so much. Suddenly, another boy poked his head round the door. He was quite tall, but not as tall as Sirius, and was very skinny and pale. He had a weary look about him, but he had such a kind smile on his face that I instantly liked him.

"D'you mind if I sit in here with you?" he asked, then he spotted James and Sirius laughing. He looked at me. "What are they laughing at?" he asked, with an amused look on his face.

"He" – I said, pointing at Sirius – "told someone the wrong pillar to run through and they crashed," I explained.

"Oh right," the boy nodded, understandingly, "is it okay if I sit in here?"

"Yes, fine, mate," Sirius said, having composed himself.

"I'm Remus, by the way, Remus Lupin," the boy said, sitting down next to Sirius.

"I'm Sirius," Sirius introduced himself.

"Yeah, what's your name though?" Remus asked, a smile playing on his lips.

James burst out laughing again.

"Sirius Black, it's my name!" Sirius yelled. A fifth year that was passing the carriage stuck her head in, her blonde curls out of control, and said, "Thanks – that's nice to know;" and carried on walking.

Of course, that made us all laugh again. This was likely to be an amusing day of travelling.

Soon, it was eleven o'clock exactly, and the train began to speed off.

_

* * *

_

Thank you for reading, please review

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	3. The Sorting Ceremony

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: I hope you like this - I have written the James/Lily relationship a little different to the stories, as in my story Lily tolerates James and gets on with him - though finds him annoying sometimes. In the books I know Lily doesn't get on with them in the train carriage but I wanted to change it slightly, I hope you don't mind! Thank you to beccabob, Rhiannon, tabithatibi and sarlovesoccer for the reviews!

* * *

**_Chapter Two_**

**THE SORTING CEREMONY**

Severus was nowhere to be seen for the rest of the train ride, so when we got to Hogsmeade Station, and we heard the cry "Firs'-years!" the four us them stuck together, as it was quite ominous. The owner of the portentous voice yelling "Firs'-years!" was a gigantic man, with a big bushy beard and long hair, wearing a moleskin coat, and holding a big lantern, for it was now dark. Sirius, James, Remus and I walked up towards him – even Sirius timid.

"Are you firs'-years?" he asked. We nodded. "I'm Rubeus Hagrid – Keeper o' the Keys, an' Grounds, at Hogwarts."

The other first years had gathered behind us – I scanned the heads, and eventually saw Severus was standing, looking rather pleased with himself, with three tall boys, one with extremely pale blonde hair and bony features. He nodded curtly at me, and I stood even closer to the other three – I ended up brushing against James' arm, who immediately jumped and smiled at me.

"Get yerselves into groups o' four," Hagrid instructed. We proceeded to follow him to the lake, where there were many boats. The students scrambled to get themselves into one – in our boat, Sirius sat at the front, James and I in the middle, and Remus at the back. The boats spontaneously began to sail across the lake, and the great castle of Hogwarts came into view.

"Wow!"

The castle – though clichéd – was like nothing I had ever encountered before. Towering turrets of grey stone, halls and battlements... it would have looked intimidating if it weren't for the thousands of welcoming windows glowing yellow and orange with the candlelight.

Even James and Sirius were speechless at the sight of it – it was truly entrancing.

Soon it was over, and we were following Hagrid up some stone steps in a cave and we left the boats behind. It was dark, and there wasn't much light apart from the lantern Hagrid was carrying.

Due to this lack of light, I couldn't see the steps, or the grinning faces of James, Sirius and Remus – and like the clumsy person I am, I tripped over the top step, and was almost on the floor, except someone next to me caught my arm and steadied me.

I turned to thank the person – which turned out to be James Potter, who was grinning his trademark smile at me.

"Thanks," I muttered.

"Anything for you, Evans," he replied. Somehow I didn't think he was joking.

Before I knew it, a tall, stern-looking witch emerged out of the Great Hall. She introduced herself as Professor McGonagall.

While she was telling us about the Sorting Ceremony, which would determine our house, I noticed in my peripheral vision that James and Sirius were pulling faces at each other. They were so childish and immature it was untrue – they were unquestionably not paying the slightest bit of attention to what Professor McGonagall was saying, which exasperated me a bit.

"We're ready for you now," McGonagall confirmed.

Nervously, we followed like sheep. Surprisingly, Severus flashed me an encouraging smile, which I returned – rather half-heartedly.

"When I call your name," McGonagall proceeded, when she was stood at the front with a list of names in her hand next to a dilapidated old hat on a stool, "you will come up and be sorted."

Everyone looked at each other anxiously, no-one quite knowing what to expect.

"Armstrong, Elizabeth!" Professor McGonagall called.

A slim girl with blonde shoulder-length hair and big blue eyes raced to the seat fervently, and jammed the hat on her head; it was so big it covered her eyes.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat suddenly bellowed. Elizabeth threw the hat off and skipped merrily to the Gryffindor table to meet the boisterous cheering erupting from there.

"Baywood, Mary" was next. She was placed in Slytherin.

"Beecham, Oliver" became a Hufflepuff.

The next name called was "Black, Narcissa". I saw James and Sirius, and Remus too, whispering avidly – I guessed that Narcissa Black was a relative of his. But when Narcissa materialized out of the crowd, nothing about her reminded me of Sirius. She was stunning: she had ivory skin that had a kind of opalescent glow, grey eyes and waist-length white blonde hair. However, she looked kind of hollow and ghostly, and had some kind of evil look about her.

"SLYTHERIN!" the hat immediately bellowed, which provoked more whispers between the three boys.

Next was "Black, Regulus". Sirius had explained on the Hogwarts Express – Regulus was Sirius' brother, and was ten months younger than Sirius, despite being in the same year. Regulus looked very like Sirius, but did not have Sirius' handsomeness or humorous look about him – he was very plain. He, like Narcissa, was announced to be in Slytherin.

Sirius, James and Remus were looking very concerned, and when Professor McGonagall yelled, "Black, Sirius!" – Sirius gulped loudly.

When he was sat on the stool, he closed his eyes tightly as the hat was placed on his head.

The hall was so silent, you could have heard a pin drop. Minutes passed, and the hat still hadn't made a decision.

Suddenly, the previously motionless hat sprung to life, and yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table applauded loudly as Sirius' relatives looked at him disgustedly. Nevertheless, Sirius looked indescribably happy, and slid in next to Elizabeth Armstrong, looking rather pleased with himself.

Before I was called, there were two new Slytherins ("Carrow, Alecto" and "Carrow, Amycus), the first Ravenclaw ("Charles, Matthew") and three Hufflepuffs ("Cuthbert, Emmeline", "Daly, Peter" and "Ellis, Martina") were sorted.

"Evans, Lily!"

I walked slowly up to the platform, and McGonagall placed the hat onto my head. I shut my eyes... the hat didn't seem to be doing anything.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table cheered, Sirius and Elizabeth the loudest. I smiled, my cheeks reddening so much they almost matched my hair.

I sat in opposite Elizabeth, who was very friendly. She congratulated me on being a Gryffindor and also told me that she preferred to be called Lizzie instead of Elizabeth. She was lovely, and I was sure we would be very good friends. After me, Remus became a Gryffindor – and a small, tubby boy called Peter Pettigrew came and sat next to Remus.

"Potter, James!"

James jumped up to the hat, and had it on his head for barely five seconds when it roared "GRYFFINDOR!"

He grinned as he sat beside me – and kept staring at me, completely conspicuously.

_

* * *

_

Thank you for reading - please review!

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	4. Gryffindor

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: I'm hoping you like this - there's a little bit of premature James/Lily in it! I was looking at my story traffic and I have loads of hits but only a few reviews so could you please, please, PLEASE review because I want to know whether people like my story or think I should change things in the way I write.

Please also check out my one-shot, **I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good**!

* * *

_**Chapter Three**_

**GRYFFINDOR**

The Gryffindor Common Room was lovely. Lizzie, Rhiannon, Eden and I immediately sat in a large sofa by the fire. Four armchairs still remained vacant right next to our settee; it wasn't long before James, Sirius, Remus and little Peter sat themselves in them – Sirius seemed to have taken a liking to Lizzie, of which she was quite oblivious.

"Girls, the dorms are on the left; and boys, the same on your right," the fifth-year prefect, William Powell, said, "I hope you have a pleasant evening – goodnight."

"Everyone's so very nice here," I commented to the girls.

"Yes they are, aren't they?" Eden smiled.

"Does that include me, Evans?" James asked mischievously.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Ooh, Jamesie, I don't think you are included," Sirius laughed.

"He seems to have taken a bit of a shine to you," Lizzie whispered in my ear whilst the others were laughing at a joke cracked by Sirius.

"Sirius seems to have taken a bit of shine to _you, _Lizzie dear," I smiled.

"Be quiet," she giggled.

We looked up at the clock – it was nearly midnight.

"I must go to bed," I said, as Lizzie promptly yawned.

"Past your bedtime?" Sirius smirked.

"No! I want to be able to get up for breakfast in the morning," I retorted hotly, and Lizzie, Eden, Rhiannon and I went up to bed.

The room was exquisite – as I got into my pale grey pyjamas, I drank in the full effect of the red velvet room. However, I couldn't stay awake for very long – the next thing I knew, I opened my eyes to see sunlight streaming in the large arched, gothic windows.

I sat up, and glanced at the end of my four poster bed – my school uniform was there.

I noticed that it was half five in the morning. It was a bit early to be getting dressed yet – breakfast wasn't until half past seven.

Instead, I put my dressing gown on, slipped my feet into my comfy slippers, grabbed my copy of "Hogwarts: A History" and tiptoed downstairs without waking the others.

I sat in the armchair James had been sat in last night, with my back to the doors to the dorms.

I opened the pages to the chapter on Godric Gryffindor, and was just reading the first few words when I heard a cough behind me – I immediately spun round.

"Lily, er, I mean, Evans?"

I glared at James Potter, who was standing there in his pyjamas and dressing gown.

"Why are you up so early?" James asked.

"I could ask you the same question," I retorted.

"Woke up early," he said casually.

"Me too," I replied.

"Seems we have something in common, eh, Evans," he said flirtatiously.

"Whatever you say, Potter," I said.

"Evans..." he said in a singsong voice.

"Yes?"

"I know we've only known each other for a bit, but I really like you. Sirius bets me that you'll–"

"Glad to know that you've been talking about me," I interjected.

"–say no, but I still want to ask you: will you go out with me?"

"I'm really sorry James, but no," I said slowly.

"Please? Do you like someone else?"

"We've not been at school twenty-four hours yet."

"Will you go out with me then?"

"No."

"Is it Sirius you like?"

"I'll admit he's very charming and funny, and so are you."

"Does that mean you'll go out with me?"

"No."

"Are you in a secret relationship?"

"James – we're eleven."

"It could happen!"

I looked at him quizzically.

"Will you go out with me?"

"No. James, I've only known you for a week or so, since Diagon Alley!"

"Love at first sight?" he offered pleadingly.

He was silent for a little bit, and I went back to reading my book. I was just about to begin the chapter about Helga Hufflepuff, when James interrupted once more, with: "Will you go out with me, Evans?"

We were suddenly aware of someone else's presence... Sirius Black.

"She said yes yet?" he asked, so unbelievably relaxed, which infuriated me somewhat.

"No," I replied, slamming my book shut.

"How many times have you asked her, mate?" Sirius inquired, plonking himself down on the settee.

"Six," James said, not even looking crestfallen – he just continued to say, "don't worry Lily, I won't give up."

"That's what I'm afraid of," I said, under my breath.

*

Breakfast was mostly uneventful, except for Professor McGonagall handing out timetables. This was interesting in itself: none of the subjects listed on the timetable handed to me were lessons Petunia would be studying. When I was in primary school, Petunia used to come home, juggling books and folders and textbooks – you'd often hear her say either, "Gawd, I hate Maths!" or, "Why do I always have to write an essay for English?" or "Henry VIII's Six Wives: Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived." The only subject that bore any relation to normal subjects was History... of Magic. All the lessons looked immensely interesting, and I couldn't wait to start.

Lizzie was wolfing down a bowl of cereal, and was just starting some toast, when she glanced at her own timetable. "What've we got first?" she asked.

"Defence Against the Dark Arts," I replied, folding some bacon into a piece of bread.

"Who with... the Slytherins!" Lizzie said, mock-enthusiastically.

Rhiannon laughed. "Do you know any of the Slytherins? Are they okay? I did hear Sirius and James listing some terms which shouldn't really be repeated in polite company to describe them..."

"I know one – Severus Snape. He lives near me, we get, or should I say, got on really well. I don't think Sirius really helped – he made Severus run into the wrong pillar at King's Cross, up until them he was really friendly. He did smile with me last night, but I never saw him on the Hogwarts Express," I told them.

"That sounds like Sirius," Eden inserted, "and I've only known him, what, a day?"

"Who did you sit with on the Hogwarts Express?" Rhiannon asked interestedly.

"Sirius, James and Remus," I answered. "You?"

"Well, I sat in a carriage with Veronica May, you know, Ravenclaw? And there was a couple of Hufflepuffs – Oliver Beecham, Daisy Reid, ooh, and there was that fair-haired Ravenclaw boy, Jasper Rathbone?" Rhiannon said.

"The good-looking one?" Eden said, smiling wickedly.

"Oh yes," Rhiannon giggled.

"What do you think of the Gryffindor boys?" Eden asked.

"Remus is sweet, he seems really friendly," Rhiannon offered, and we all simultaneously looked down the table, to where the Gryffindor boys were sat, quite a way away from us.

"Yeah, he is," I said vaguely. "Peter seems okay, too."

"What about Sirius and James?"

"Funny," Lizzie said.

"Sirius seemed to like you," Rhiannon remarked, grinning. Lizzie blushed. "And, Lily, James seemed to like you a lot!"

"You're telling me," I murmured, remembering the events of this morning. I hadn't yet told them of what had happened this morning, and wasn't really intending to.

"Lily, was someone else downstairs this morning when you were? I was sure I heard voices when I woke up," Lizzie said, pouring herself a goblet of orange juice.

"Yes, Sirius and James," I admitted – it was almost as if Lizzie had read my mind!

"Ooh, what went on?" Eden asked, detecting gossip. Her ardent expression made me laugh.

"James asked me out," I confessed.

"Really? He didn't waste time!" Eden observed.

"No, he didn't," I said. "How long is it before first lesson?"

"Fifteen minutes," Lizzie said, "we'd better go – I don't have a clue where this classroom is!"

We got up from the table, stopped to ask William Powell directions to the classroom, and left.

_

* * *

_

Hope you liked it, please review - I'd like to know what you think!!

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	5. The Slytherins Aren't Nice

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: I'd like to say thank you to Tabithatibi to reviewing again and to Padfoot7Prongs and sarlovesoccer for adding my story to their favourites and Tabithatibi, bluvmomma, lasting illusion and Ower for adding my story to their alerts. And thank you, also, if you are reading it!!!

* * *

**_Chapter Four_**

**THE SLYTHERINS AREN'T NICE**

It actually didn't take us that long to find the Defence Against the Dark Arts Classroom, so we were five minutes early. No-one else was there yet.

It wasn't long before the Slytherins appeared, all in one big group. I said hello to Severus, but he merely nodded and his friends smirked. I was slightly hurt, but that didn't bother me much. I had my new friends.

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter sauntered along just as Professor Bloodstone opened the classroom door.

Professor Bloodstone was a tall, skinny man with pale skin and dark hair. He had very black eyes which were quite sinister – there was something disturbing about his appearance; however, when he welcomed us into the classroom, he was warm and kind.

"I apologise to you for this," he began, "but I have written out a seating plan to amalgamate the two houses – it can often help working."

Everyone groaned.

"Right," Professor Bloodstone said, "on the front bench I want Miss Baywood, Mr Potter, Miss Thomas and Mr Black–"

"Which one?" Regulus and Sirius interrupted concurrently.

"Oh, yes, let's have Regulus," Bloodstone replied vacantly, "behind Miss Baywood, I want Mr Malfoy, then Miss Evans, Mr Snape and Miss Armstrong. Third row, we'll have Miss Jones, Mr Black, Miss Carrow and Mr Lupin, and last but not least, back row, Miss Black, Mr Pettigrew, Miss Patterson and Mr Carrow. Please take your seats."

We all took our assigned seat. Lucius Malfoy didn't look very kind, but I was determined to take my mother's attitude: "Don't judge a book by its cover."

I was pleased to have Severus on the desk to the right of me, and Lizzie was quite close too. James was in front of me, and Sirius behind me, like a sort of surrounding shield. It felt weird!

We all took out our parchments, quills, and ink bottles when Professor Bloodstone began to explain what the subject was all about.

"Defence Against the Dark Arts..." Bloodstone said as he casually sat on his desk. "Sounds extremely ominous, doesn't it? But it is something which you will need to know. There are some very dark wizards, dark forces, out there and you need to be able to defend yourself in an undesirable situation.

"I am, of course, not implying that you will walk out this classroom and be automatically attacked! No, of course not, that would be a very silly, and frightening, thought.

"What comes to your mind when you think of 'defence' and 'dark arts'? What would you define them as?" Bloodstone asked. My hand shot up, as did Lizzie's and Remus'.

"Yes, Miss Evans?"

"Defence is when you try to prevent someone hurting you," I recited.

"Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor. Miss Armstrong?"

"The Dark Arts are people, spells, ideas and thoughts that oppose good and generally strive for an evil, devastating effect – such as evil creatures or spells," Lizzie told everyone.

"Brilliant. Ten points to Gryffindor. Mr Lupin?"

"Defensive spells are incantations such as disarming spells, stupefying spells, or shielding spells," Remus said.

"Fantastic. Ten points to Gryffindor. Anyone from Slytherin got anything to contribute?"

No-one from Slytherin put their hand up, but I noticed Sirius and James silently clap Remus' response, looking at him with adoring faces. So juvenile.

"Right then. So, as Mr Lupin described, we will today be looking at disarming spells. Anyone know the spell?"

Lizzie's hand shot right in the air before anyone else had the chance to think.

"Yes, Miss Armstrong?"

"_Expelliarmus_," she told him.

"Take ten points Miss Armstrong, well done," Bloodstone congratulated her. "Before we look at practising this spell, we need to make some notes on it. I hate copying work, but we'll have to do this for this lesson – next lesson we'll have a practical."

"Severus tells me that it was a great _surprise_ when you got your letter," Lucius Malfoy whispered to me. I was unsure of his tone – it wasn't clear whether it was mocking, malicious, sarcastic or interested in my answer.

"Yes, it was," I eventually answered with a smile.

"Are you muggle-born, then?" Lucius deduced.

"Yes," I replied, not quite sure I liked where this was going.

"Do you know any other muggle-borns?" Lucius asked.

"I'm not sure, it's not really a habit of mine to question my friends and people I know on their parentage; I find it slightly rude, don't you?" I smiled sweetly. I swear I heard James Potter splutter, trying to hide a laugh. He was leaning back on his chair, so I wouldn't have been surprised if he was listening to our conversation.

"Of course," Lucius said, with a smile laced with malice. "Most of the first-year Slytherins are pure blood."

"I'm sorry, due to my muggle parentage, I'm not entirely sure... does that mean both parents were magic?" I asked, with mock ignorance and a slight tinge of sarcasm.

He nodded.

"That's nice for them – I suppose it means they know a lot more than I do about wizardry and witchcraft."

"Yes, I suppose it does. I believe it was Salazar Slytherin's particular request that Slytherin house should be selective about the students they admitted – only half- and pure-bloods," Lucius said spitefully.

"Well, I'm perfectly happy in Gryffindor, thank you," I said, slightly hotly.

"Good," Lucius replied.

There was no more conversing between us. I felt that he was very insulting, and did it very sneakily and slyly.

Soon, the lesson was over, and I exited swiftly, with Lizzie, Rhiannon and Eden. Just as everyone was filing out, I heard Lucius Malfoy call my name.

"Lily, I'm sorry if I insulted you. I know I shouldn't be so nasty to a filthy mudblood like you," he yelled. Then he was obscured from view, he appeared to have disappeared.

Everyone else seemed really shocked, like it was a really rude thing to say. I could hear something, like a fight. I rushed forward to where the sound was coming from, where the other Slytherins were snickering at Lucius' rudeness.

James Potter had wrestled Lucius Malfoy to the ground. Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were cheering him on.

"James! _James_!" I yelled, trying to stop the brawl occurring in front of me, but to no avail - though I suppose my urgent words were mixed up with Sirius, Remus and Peter's caterwauling voices, who were also yelling his name, but without the anxiety I had.

"Can't you stop him?" I asked, turning to the Gryffindor boys, and they shook their heads.

"Did you not _hear_ what he called you Lily?" Sirius cried in disbelief.

"Well, yes, but that's no reason for him to be starting a fight in the corridor! Someone could get hurt!" I replied anxiously.

"Lily, I don't think you quite understand the meaning of what Malfoy said," Remus explained calmly, "it's a really, really bad, horrible insult for someone with non-magic parents. No-one should ever use that term, it's disgusting."

"Oh. James still shouldn't have done it, though, it's very nice of him to defend my honour and everything but he could get into trouble-" I protested, but was interrupted.

"JAMES POTTER AND LUCIUS MALFOY!" the busy corridor cleared instantaneously at the sound of Professor McGonagall yelling. James and Malfoy looked up slightly at their names being called – and saw McGonagall's face. James stopped trying to kill Malfoy and stood back up, leaving a shocked looking Lucius still on the ground. "My office, NOW! All of you!"

Silently, we trooped after Professor McGonagall in the direction of her office. I couldn't believe I was in trouble, on my first proper day at Hogwarts!

"What on earth was that about?" she finally said, when we were all lined up in front of her desk.

"Malfoy called Lily a– a–" James stuttered.

"Malfoy called Lily a mudblood, Professor," Sirius said, for once in his life, solemnly.

"Mr Malfoy, is this true?" she asked him ferociously.

Lucius Malfoy seemed to have lost a bit of his self-righteous grandeur and looked rather sheepish. He nodded submissively.

"And why did you feel the need to use that foul term in describing Miss Evans?" she asked.

He remained silent.

"I think you owe her an apology," Professor McGonagall said. "Now."

Lucius Malfoy obviously established by McGonagall's tone that the apology was non-negotiable, despite his pride.

"Sorry, Lily," he muttered.

We began to go, but Professor McGonagall continued: "Mr Potter, I do believe, however, that it wasn't Mr Malfoy who wrestled himself to the ground?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

"No, Professor, but I cannot believe that he said such a thing to–" James began.

"Yes, Mr Potter, I consider it to be a very heroic act of you, but I do believe also that spontaneous fighting in the school hallways is not allowed in the school rules?"

"No, Professor."

"In that case, Mr Potter, I do think you deserve a detention," McGonagall said.

"But Professor–" I tried to interrupt.

"And five points will be taken from Gryffindor for the rule breaking. However, Mr Malfoy, I do believe that term you shouted in the corridor deserves a Saturday detention, and thirty points from Slytherin. If I ever catch you saying it again, or hear a report from Mr Potter or Miss Evans of it, the punishment will be much more severe, do you understand?" Professor McGonagall warned him.

Malfoy nodded.

"And you, Mr Black, Mr Lupin and Mr Pettigrew? I hope never to hear you egging on a fight again, is that understood? A matter like this should have been reported to a teacher, not solved with an immature brawl," McGonagall continued.

"Yes, Professor," the three of them said in chorus.

"You may go, then, all of you, except Miss Evans," McGonagall said.

I gulped anxiously.

McGonagall smiled at me. "You are not in trouble, Miss Evans, but I hope Mr Malfoy didn't say anything else apart from that insult. Whatever background you come from, Lily, whether it be muggle, half- or pure-blood, it is not your blood status that matters, it is your attitude, personality and way you work yourself. I believe, Miss Evans, that you will be admirable in all of those things. I'll write you a note for Professor Binns – it is I that made you late for class," she said, signing a piece of parchment and sending me off to History of Magic.

_

* * *

_

Please review because I'd like to have your feedback!

:) x Lily Orange x (:

_PS. Who is excited because of the_ Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince_ DVD is out today??? I'm practically jumping up and down on the spot :)_


	6. Wingardium Leviosa

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: I thought I'd post another chapter... thank you to Tabithatibi for reviewing every chapter and my other two stories too!!! I have another story posted, **Sirius Black's Guide To Dealing With Girls**, so please go and give that a read too! Thank you! There's a bit of a jump in time in this chapter - and there will be in the next one too... hope you like it!

* * *

**_Chapter Five_**

**"WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!"**

Summer came early in my first year. The first week of April bought endless sunshine, forcing every sane Hogwarts student outside to sit by the lake. The Marauders – James, Sirius, Remus and Peter – had rushed from Potions, out of the clutches of Professor Slughorn, to get their favourite spot under the tree. I, on the other hand, had been stopped before leaving the classroom to talk to Professor Slughorn. Nothing bad, but he wanted to invite me to a meeting of the 'Slug Club', as he delightfully called it. Apparently, it would be a summer party sort of thing in June. He had also told me I could bring a friend. Fun – I liked Potions, but it was not something I would enjoy spending my evenings doing. Nonetheless, I thanked him, and assured him I would come. Lizzie had been invited the lesson previously – I had been in the hospital wing with a cold.

I hurried outside, after grabbing a sandwich from the Great Hall, to find the others. They were sunning themselves on a rock not too far from the Marauder's tree haunt.

"Lily!" Eden called. I ran over.

"What did Sluggy want?" Rhiannon asked, leaning back over the rock, catching the eyes of a certain Ravenclaw. She blushed.

"Slug Club," I replied – she groaned.

I looked over at the Marauders. James Potter was being surprisingly cocky today – it might have had something to do with the fact that it had been his birthday the week before and he was still revelling in the magnificent prank they had tried to play on Severus in celebration of his twelfth birthday.

Severus, unfortunately, seemed to be the butt of a lot of their jokes and pranks. Despite his rather big and beefy friends (in the shape of Lucius Malfoy and Amycus Carrow) and his secret weapon taking the form of Sirius' brother, Regulus, against the Marauders, as they had nicknamed themselves – and now the name everyone referred to them as – but this did not seem to perturb the Marauders themselves.

They had managed to lock Severus in the potions cupboard with a niffler – by the end of the three hours they had left him in there, when they arrived back with a piece of James' cake decorated with a lit candle especially for him (spiked with shrinking potion), Severus had emerged looking completely dishevelled, with a substantial amount of hair missing, and his robes torn. Of course, James and Sirius had found this incalculably comical and were rolling around on the flagged stone floor laughing, and Remus and Peter had handed over the cake. Which Severus threw in James' face.

I had heard this account many times accompanied with roaring laughter in the Gryffindor common room for a week. I was sick of it.

Lizzie noticed me looking at them. "How many times today?" she asked.

"Seven."

"I wish Jasper would say it just one time," Rhiannon commented, looking longingly in the direction of her favourite Ravenclaw.

"He will, Rhiannon," I said soothingly, patting her shoulder.

"Seven times already? It's only lunch!" Lizzie exclaimed.

"He's not yet beaten his personal record," Rhiannon remarked, "forty-two."

"It's quite sad that you are keeping count, girls," we heard a male voice behind us.

We all yelped and turned around. Sirius Black and James Potter were standing there, looking vaguely amused.

"Maybe, Jamesie, you should increase your personal best..." Sirius said mischievously.

"Will you go out with me? Will you go out with me? Will you go out with me? Will you go out with me? Will you go out with me? Will you go out with me? Will you go out with me? Will you go out with me? Will you go out with me? Will you go out with me? Will you go out with me? Will you go out with me? Will you go out with me?" James babbled.

"No. Would you like me to repeat that, what, twelve, thirteen times for you?" I shot back sharply.

"Aww, Evans, you know you love me really!" James exclaimed.

"No, that is not something that is swimming around in my brain – but there are other thoughts about you which I don't think you want me to repeat," I smiled sweetly.

"Received, loud and clear," James replied, "but I'll be back! Mark my words, I'm watching you!"

They walked back to their tree.

"He is so embarrassing!" I said, taking a bite out of my tuna sandwich.

"He so loves you, Lily," Eden said dreamily.

"Eden, we're twelve."

"He so obviously really likes you, though, you're so lucky," Lizzie told me earnestly.

"Really, no. Can we change the subject?" I groaned.

"Yeah. How sunny is it today? It's like July!" Eden said.

"Yep," I agreed imprecisely.

"If it were July, though, we'd have the dreaded exams!" Rhiannon cried over-emotionally, clapping her hands together.

"Yep."

"I hate exams so much... I don't know how I will cope with the revision," Eden whined.

"Yep."

I really was not concentrating. I did not get James Potter's problem. Did he not understand the word no? Although only a first year, I knew several girls liked him and found him attractive. I knew definitely that Charlotte Lewis, of Ravenclaw, and Emmeline Cuthbert, of Hufflepuff, liked him. And Sirius Black, well he was a different story entirely. He had already been out – briefly – with both Charlotte and Emmeline. And they were both twelve. I dreaded seeing what they were like when they were fourteen, fifteen. That was a day to fear.

Remus and Peter, though both adept mischief makers, were different. Remus was quieter, and extremely intelligent. I had a feeling that both James and Sirius were erudite, but didn't bother to show it, or build upon it in class – preferring jokes to spell-casting or potion-brewing, no matter what amount of trouble the consequences bought. James and Sirius were the chief trouble-makers. Peter, however, was slow and not clever at all. He just followed whatever the other Marauders told him to do.

"Earth to Lily?"

"Sorry, what?" I answered.

"Doesn't matter," Eden laughed, "it's the end of lunch, anyway. Charms, now."

I followed the rest of them inside, still thinking furious thoughts about James Potter and the Marauders.

*

Professor Flitwick greeted us with the news that today we would be practising the levitating charm. James and Sirius looked especially excited by this, but I decided to pay attention to Flitwick rather than to Potter and Black – they needed no more encouragement.

"So, remember the wand movement – swish and flick!" Flitwick told us enthusiastically. "And remember the words ... _Wingardium Leviosa_! Repeat!"

"Wingardium Leviosa," the class repeated.

"Excellent! Now, have a go!" Flitwick cried.

I focussed entirely on trying to make my feather levitate. "_Wingardium Lev_–" I was interrupted by an unwelcome whisper.

"Oi, Evans," I turned round to see Sirius Black leaning over his desk at me.

"What?" I replied huskily.

"Ooh, Evans, you are gorgeous when you're annoyed!" he mocked.

"What do you want?"

"See Armstrong's hair?"

I looked over at Lizzie, who was sat on the other side of the classroom. She had managed to make her feather levitate first time, and she was very pleased with herself. Professor Flitwick was praising her ardently, oblivious to the activities to the rest of the class.

When I had first met Lizzie, she had had quite short fair hair – she had grown it since and now it reasonably long. It still wasn't as long as Rhiannon or Eden's – whose hair were both bordering on waist-length – but it was now an inch or two past her shoulders. Today, she had twisted it up into a bun, and her fringe was straight and sleek. It looked very stylish, compared to my wash-it-and-leave-it style. I never really bothered with my hair, just brushed it and went.

"Yeah?"

"How do you think it'd look with four feathers in it?"

"What are you going to do, Sirius?"

"Well Evans, that would be telling, wouldn't it?"

"Do you have to be up to mischief all the time?"

"Of course."

I went back to trying to make my feather fly. This time, I got slightly further. "_Wingardium Levi–_"

"Lily?" this time it was the voice of James Potter. One person I did _not_ want to talk to under any circumstances.

"_Wingardium Levio_–"

"Lily!"

"WHAT?" I almost screeched back at him. He looked slightly taken aback at my outburst, but then carried on regardless.

"Will you go out with me?"

"No."

"What does that take my total to?"

"Twenty-one. _Wingardium Levio–_"

"Lily, Lily Evans, Lily, Lily Evans..." James sang tunelessly.

"Really, Potter, what is your problem?"

"You. Hey Lily, to solve my problem, how about we rearrange the alphabet and put you and I together?" James grinned.

"Wow Potter, you're _really_ funny," I said sarcastically. "Now will you please let me do the spell?"

"Lily, is your father a burglar?"

"No, last time I checked, he was an accountant."

"Oh, just speculating, he must have stolen the stars to put them into your emerald eyes."

"That is the worst chat-up line I have ever heard."

"Really? Well at least I win some kind of prize..."

"Can you leave me alone now Potter? I actually do want to be able to levitate my feather."

"Can I just ask you one more question?"

"Will it make you leave me alone?"

"Yes, most definitely."

"Go on, then."

"What colour eyes do you reckon our children'll have?" James said, beaming ridiculously at me.

I paused, to think. Then I got my answer.

"Black, like yours'll be in a minute."

"You have a sharp tongue, Lily," he said, though not hurt.

"I pride myself upon it."

That silenced him, thankfully. I could actually get back to working.

"_Wingardium Leviosa_!" I said, swishing and flicking my wand – my feather levitated excellently.

"Bravo, Miss Evans, well done!" Flitwick praised me. I smiled.

Suddenly, I was aware of four feathers floating across the room towards Lizzie. Just as she turned her head round, the four feathers zoomed through the air and secured themselves in her bun.

Before I could say anything, Sirius Black bellowed across the classroom, "Oi, Armstrong, do you like swanning around or something?"

Lizzie looked at him quizzically, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you're such a bird, Armstrong!" Sirius yelled again.

Now she looked really annoyed with him, and glanced at me. I pointed to my hair then gestured to her. Paranoid, she grabbed her hair, and found the four feathers, belonging to the four Marauders, stuck in her hair.

She pulled them out, looking furious with them. She walked over to Sirius' desk – which he looked quite excited about – slammed them down on the table, and went, "You know, Sirius, I think you have a gift."

"Really, Armstrong? Is it being an excellent comedian, or just being damn gorgeous?"

"No, I think you'll find you have a talent for being a total and utter prat."

"Better than I expected. I thought you might say something about being stupid or something," Sirius commented, rather amused.

"That as well." Lizzie walked back to her seat. I caught a glimpse of Sirius' face. For once, he wasn't smiling. A bit puzzled as to why, I raised an eyebrow when Remus caught my eye. He mouthed to me, "He really likes her."

Alas, Sirius caught him mouthing his message, and elbowed him hard.

_

* * *

_

Thank you for reading, please review!

:) x Lily Orange x (:

_PS. I'm now the proud owner of a HP6 DVD! Just off to watch it :)_


	7. The Worst Kind Of Betrayal

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: This is a Lily/Snape chapter (but not romantic, don't worry! Lily and James were made for each other!) and this actually happened in the books but I've put it in their third year instead of fifth and Lily's reaction to what happens is different but this is how I think my interpretation of Lily would have reacted, if you get what I mean! Just enjoy it and please review!

Thank you to sarah, , sarlovesoccer, wannabe witch11 and ME for reviewing; thank you to wannabe witch11, kama674, gallaghergirl702 and Asidill for adding this story as a favourite and thank you to bluesmidge101, ForeverPreppy619, and wannabe witch11 for adding this story to alert! It means a lot to me :)

* * *

**_Chapter Six_**

**THE WORST KIND OF BETRAYAL**

I sat beside my best friend in Potions – Severus Snape. We had drifted apart in some ways, mostly to do with the crowds we were associated with, for Gryffindors never, ever, associated with Slytherins. It was unspoken law. In fact, they were more inclined to hex the latter if the occasion arose – and often, they would hex them even if the occasion didn't arise.

The worst group for doing this was the Marauders. Well, probably Sirius Black and James Potter. I expected that if they ever had to fill out an application of some sort, and had to list their hobbies, the one thing they could probably write down would be _hexing Slytherins_. All they ever did was cause mischief.

Severus wasn't like that, of course. He might've hung around with pureblood-maniacs, but he was never prejudiced against me for my blood status.

Lizzie, Rhiannon and Eden couldn't understand why I was still friends with him – they said he was incredibly into the dark arts. Lizzie sat next to him in Defence Against the Dark Arts, so prided herself upon knowing that all he ever did was praise Voldemort, calling him the Dark Lord. Apparently, according to what Sirius and James told her, that's what his followers, the Death Eaters, call him – Sirius and James call him Mouldy Voldy.

"I think the potion has finished simmering, now, Lily, it is ready," Severus informed me, and we took it off the heat, and poured some into a crystal vial to take to Professor Slughorn for marking – we were making Essence of Euphoria, I was already feeling giddy inhaling the intoxicating fumes from the potion before me. It smelt intoxicatingly good – almost as good as Amortentia, although, as third years, we wouldn't be making that for a few years yet.

In fact, I felt so giddy, that I decided to go to the library to calm down. Lizzie came with me, and Rhiannon and Eden went outside to bask in the sunshine – it was late May after all, and I had to make some notes to revise for my last exam, whilst they tried to build a tan up for themselves.

"Bye, Sev," I said, leaving him to his friends, Lucius Malfoy and those horrible Slytherins.

Lizzie hooked her arm through mine as we walked through the corridors of Hogwarts castle in the direction of the library. She, like me, got exceptionally paranoid and anxious about any sort of exams and the only way of calming these ceaseless emotions was to take a trip to the library and prove that we did know the required material.

"So the last one is Defence Against the Dark Arts," Lizzie said as we entered the library.

"Yes – I need to check out some books with nocturnal beasts, especially regarding werewolves. I don't really feel as if I know much about them," I admitted, and I swore I heard a kind of boyish laugh behind me – instantaneously spinning round, I saw nobody was there, except the tapestry that was covering the wall opposite the library entrance.

"I really need to revise the creatures we did at the start of the year – we'll get a couple of tables at the back, amongst the shelves, so that it'll be especially quiet. I'll get the textbooks off Madame Pince," Lizzie told me. We found ourselves a table, in a secluded corner of the library, and she went off to find the fastidious librarian. I took a roll of parchment out of my bag, as well as a quill and a bottle of ink. It was special ink that Lizzie had bought me for my birthday – in the bottle, it looked like normal black ink, but when it wrote, it wrote in your favourite colour. My favourite colour being green, it wrote in the most magnificent shade of emerald.

"Here we go," Lizzie said, dumping a pile of dusty, well-used books down on the table. It was separated, and we began to pore over the pages, taking in all the information.

Behind me, I was sure I heard the shuffling of feet, and hushed voices. I spun round, but saw nobody. Lizzie raised her eyebrows, and looked behind the shelves. Nobody.

"Shh, Prongs, they'll hear us!" I heard a whisper uttered. There was definitely somebody there – I swore that was Sirius Black's voice, and he was obviously talking to Potter.

Lizzie looked up, having heard this voice.

"Oh Merlin, Padfoot, you've done it!" I heard the familiar sound of James Potter say.

"Well it wasn't my idea! I didn't want to come into the library to stalk Evans!" he replied angrily.

"No, you wanted to stalk Lizzie!"

"Oh be quiet, the both of you!" that was definitely Remus Lupin. Surreptitiously, I took a small mirror out of my bag, and reflected it towards the bookshelf, where the sound was coming from – four heads were poking around the corner of the shelving, watching us intently. At the bottom, was Peter Pettigrew, who looked thoroughly bored; then Remus Lupin, looking annoyed at his friends' incapability of being silent; then Sirius Black, wearing an expression of murderousness (probably due to James' last comment) and then above him, James Potter, wearing an expression of much excitement.

"Padfoot? Moony? Wormy?"

"Yes, what the bloody hell is it, Prongs?" Sirius said irritably.

"Lily has a mirror, and it's shining in our direction!"

So he noticed.

"Oh bloody hell, run!" Sirius growled, and the four boys sprinted away, leaving us finally in peace.

"I do worry about them," Lizzie commented absentmindedly, not lifting her eyes from the book she was studying from.

"I think it's mutual," I replied.

*

After leaving the library, we went to go and find Rhiannon and Eden.

Surprise, surprise, they were sitting right next to the lake, dipping their toes in the water, laughing about something. Lizzie and I abandoned our bags, and sat down with them, stripping our socks and shoes off so we could dip our feet in also.

I lay back in the grass, and tipped my head backwards even further so I could see what was going on behind me. The Marauders, fresh from being psychopathic stalkers, were sat under their usual tree, chuckling loudly. I sighed, and diverted my gaze to the path that ran past the lake and the tree, and saw Severus walking on it, by himself. This would make him a prime target for James Potter and his relentless hexing, and sure enough, approximately two seconds later,

"_IMPEDIMENTA_!"

Severus was struggling, as if bound by invisible ropes. Annoyed, especially at that bloody James Potter, I shoved my feet back into my socks, and then into my shoes, but didn't quite make it over there before Sirius Black yelled,

"_SCOURGIFY_!"

Incredibly angry, I bellowed, "Leave him alone, he did nothing!"

James and Sirius, the principal attackers, looked at me. James' face broke out into a wide grin. I scowled back.

"Aw, Evans, you even look beautiful when you frown at me!" he commented audaciously.

"Evans, turn that frown, upside down!" Sirius said in a sickly sweet voice, keeping one eye on me and one eye on Severus.

"Don't you dare! Just leave him alone, he's defenceless!" I countered.

"Hopeless, more like," Sirius muttered.

"Take that back," I argued.

"He will if you say yes to going to Hogsmeade with me next weekend," James said eagerly.

"Er, no," I replied.

"Are you sure, Lily, because there's this really great teashop–"

"POTTER! JUST STOP TORTURING SEV BECAUSE IT'S REALLY HORRIBLE AND GETTING ON MY NERVES NOT TO MENTION HIS!" I roared.

"Ooh, Sev!" Sirius imitated, and suddenly, Severus was hanging upside down, his robes flipped up.

"Put him back down!" I hollered furiously.

"Oh alright then," James said reluctantly, and with a flick of his wand, Severus was sprawled across the ground, panting for dear life.

Just as Sirius was about to perform further hexes on the vulnerable Severus, I shouted, "STOP IT! LET HIM GO!"

"Fine, fine, you're lucky Lily Evans is here, Snivellus, otherwise–" James began mockingly, but Severus interrupted.

"I don't need help from filthy little mudbloods like her!" Severus screamed.

I could feel my heart thumping in my chest, as if three hundred daggers had stabbed me all at once. Severus? My best friend – calling me a, a, a... _mudblood_? I trusted him. I defended him when all my friends told me he was bad. I kind of fell limp. I couldn't believe what he had just said, all I realised was that increased yelling was going on between the Marauders and Severus. I didn't care that they were torturing him now – all I knew was that three arms steered me away from the scene, towards the castle.

_

* * *

_

Hope you liked it, please review!

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	8. A Little Distraction

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: So now we jump in time again... I'm sorry about this but it's just the way I wrote it and I think it flows better this way :) Thank you to tanny apple, and sarlovesoccer for reviewing! I hope you all like this chapter, please read and review!!

* * *

**_Chapter Seven_**

**A LITTLE DISTRACTION**

Fourth Year of Hogwarts started eventfully. Only a week in, James Potter received lines from Professor McGonagall, because he was passing notes to Sirius in class. It actually was rather entertaining – James went scarlet when McGonagall suggested that she read the contents of the folded piece of parchment to the whole class.

"I don't think that's quite necessary, Professor," he gulped.

"Do you know what is necessary, Mr Potter?"

"Er..."

"Detention. My office, eight o'clock sharp. You'll be doing lines. I must not pass notes during Transfiguration Lessons. I will not read out the notes," Professor McGonagall said, receiving a look of admiration from James.

"Thanks Professor, see you later," he said, leaving the classroom when the bell rang.

"Ooh, a date with Minerva!" I heard Sirius tease him when we left the classroom.

"Shut up," James replied.

Sirius was being even more rowdy than usual. This was probably due to the fact that Remus was in the hospital wing – he was regularly... I knew why, but had not related it to my friends. He usually kept some kind of control over the hyperactive Marauder. Unfortunately, James could not exert this same sort of control over Sirius and he was being a loud prat.

"Hey Lily," Rhiannon said, catching up with me.

"Hi Rhiannon, how are you?" I asked.

"I'm... okay, I guess," she said in a disheartened tone.

I stopped, and turned to face her. "Rhiannon – what's the matter?"

"Jasper asked Verity Oldham out," she said, clearly cut up about it. I knew how much she liked Jasper Rathbone – she had done since she got on the Hogwarts Express in first year and had clapped eyes on him. It had to be said, he was extremely good looking, and had his own fan club. He was as handsome as Sirius, in a different way of course. Jasper had fair hair which was shorter than Sirius' shoulder length dark curly hair. I considered James to be one of the really good looking boys of our year too. Sort of.

"Oh, Rhiannon! Don't get upset love!" I said, hugging her. "He will realise that he's madly in love with you soon!"

"Do you really think so?" she asked in a small voice.

"I know so!" I said, assuring her.

"Okay," she replied, and we wandered off to the Great Hall for dinner.

"This evening is _not_ going to be a fun one," Eden said, putting second helpings of cottage pie and roast potatoes onto her gold plate, and pouring more pumpkin juice into her goblet. "I'm going to be in the library for absolute _hours _trying to do that bloody essay for McGonagall and that stupid essay on palmistry for Professor Trelawney!"

"Don't worry, Eden, I've got piles of Arithmancy and Ancient Runes homework to do, besides the Transfiguration and Divination essay," Lizzie said comfortingly.

"Remind me why you took those subjects, Lizzie?" Eden asked.

"Hey, they're interesting!" I cried. I took exactly the same subjects as Lizzie – Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and Divination – and I really liked them.

"Lily, would you be able to help me slightly with my Muggle Studies essay?" Rhiannon pleaded. Due to her heartbreak concerning Jasper, who had very conspicuously moved to the Hufflepuff table to sit with Verity Oldham, I agreed.

"What's it about?" I inquired.

"Transport."

"Fascinating," Eden commented sarcastically.

"I know," Rhiannon agreed, frowning slightly at her chicken covered in gravy.

At the end of dinner, I heard Sirius vociferously bid James good luck for his 'date' with McGonagall. James grinned, and went, "Thanks mate," before turning the opposite way in the direction of the Transfiguration classroom.

Leading the exciting lives we did, Rhiannon, Eden, Lizzie and I took our bags and textbooks and headed off to the library to complete our homework.

We spread all our stuff across one big table – we were going to be here for a while.

Eden was soon deep in her Divination work, and copying and labelling a diagram of a palm; Lizzie was translating a page of runes whilst also trying to find the piece of paper on which she wrote her Arithmancy homework; Rhiannon was trying to write her Muggle Studies essay on muggle transport and I was simultaneously trying to do my Transfiguration essay and help Rhiannon with her homework. It was not the most scintillating evening that I had ever spent at Hogwarts.

"So, Lily, tell me again, why do muggles have cars? And why are they a lot smaller than the wizard cars?" Rhiannon asked.

"Because the muggle cars haven't got enlargement charms on them," I answered.

"Oh," she replied, scribbling it down on the parchment.

Soon, Madame Pince came over and told us it was time for us to go – it was nearly ten.

"Gosh, we've been working nearly two hours!" Eden cried, shutting her Divination book and stuffing it into her bag.

"I'm still not finished this Arithmancy work!" Lizzie said, with a note of panic in her voice.

"Come on, let's go to the common room," I said. We packed all our stuff away and left. As soon as we reached the common room, Lizzie immediately took a seat by the fire and spread her Arithmancy work over a nearby table, and continued. I saw the Marauders in one corner of the room. James noticed me, and looked over at me hopefully, but I just bid the others good night, and went up to the dormitory.

When I got to our room, pinned on the door was a piece of parchment. When I got closer, I saw it said:

_Lily, and I really mean this with all my heart,_

_Will you go out with me? Will you go out with me?_

_Will you go out with me? Will you go out with me?_

_Will you go out with me? Will you go out with me?_

It continued all the way down the parchment and onto the back as well. I could not believe it. On the bottom of it, was a separate note:

_That's two hundred and forty six times, Lily._

_Lots of love, your future husband, James xx_

"The complete audacity of that stupid idiot!" I yelled. I heard someone running up the stairs behind me.

"Lily, what's the matter?" it was Eden.

"Look at this!" I shouted, handing her the parchment. She scanned her grey eyes over it.

"Lily... he really, really likes you... this is... awww, so sweet!" she said. This was _not_ the reaction I was hoping for. I was _hoping_ for her to agree with me with what a stupid person James was being.

"No it's not!" I replied angrily.

"Lily..." Eden said warningly.

"What?" I replied.

"Don't you think you should give him a chance? He likes you so much... this is so romantic!" Eden exclaimed.

"Romantic? Eden!" I yelled. "Right, I am going to tell James Potter, once and for all!"

I grabbed the piece of parchment, and stalked off down the stairs.

"Lily, wait! You might say something you'll regret!" I heard Eden yell behind me, but I didn't care.

I stomped across the common room, clutching the stupid note, and headed towards the Marauders in the corner. They all looked up to see me, and I heard Sirius mutter to James, "It's not looking too good, mate."

"James," I said through clenched teeth, "can I speak to you outside? Now?"

"Okay," he answered, looking genuinely excited. Gosh he infuriated me. We stepped outside the common room and I shut the portrait door behind me – just down the corridor was an empty classroom. We went in there. I was so furious with him that I was silent for a minute or two. He looked at me apprehensively. He opened his mouth to speak, but I cut across him.

"What the HELL is this?" I roared at him.

"It's the lines I did for McGonagall," he answered confidently.

"No it's not, you were SUPPOSED to be writing 'I must not pass notes in Transfiguration' – not 'Will you go out with me' two hundred and forty _bloody_ times!" I yelled.

"Actually, it was two hundred and forty six..." he said uncertainly.

"Do you not KNOW what the word 'no' means, James Potter? BECAUSE I SEEMED TO HAVE DECLINED YOU AT LEAST TEN TIMES EVERY SINGLE DAY AND YOU STILL, AFTER TWO YEARS, DON'T SEEM TO GET THAT I AM _NOT INTERESTED IN YOU_!"

"Lily, I was just–" he tried to say.

"I AM NOT INTERESTED, NEVER WAS AND NEVER _BLOODY_ WILL BE!"

"Yes, okay, Lily, I seem to have got the message. You have yelled it at me loud enough," he said, and he actually frowned. My goodness, I truly made James Potter frown at me. Then, when I thought that wicked thing, I suddenly realised how nasty I was being.

Eden had been right. James had been annoying, but I was so angry I had said something I regretted, and had hurt James' feelings. And I was supposed to be a nice girl.

James turned to go.

I grabbed his arm.

"James, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled, that was really horrible of me, I'm–"

"Lily, I get it. I'll just go now, before I'm humiliated anymore," he said, and went to the door.

"James!" I called after him, but he never came back.

I heard him go through the portrait hole, and I sat on the desk I was leaning against. I was so mean. How could I have been so negligent about his feelings? Yes, he aggravated me with his constant asking me out, but he was a sweet boy. And I had just really hurt him.

I began to cry.

I don't know how long I sat there crying, but it felt like days.

Suddenly the door opened. "James?" I asked hopefully.

It was Lizzie who came through the door.

"Lily, are you okay, love? It's nearly midnight!" she said. She came and sat down beside me. "What's the matter?"

"I just... I'm such a... such a nasty, horrible person," I sniffed. She put her arm around me and I cried into her jumper.

"Lily, you're not! Is this about James?"

I nodded.

"He got someone to pin this to our door," I said in a small voice, giving Lizzie the parchment to read. "I got _so_ mad, and I went to the common room, and we came into here, and I started yelling at him."

"What did you say?"

"Oh, I can't believe I could have been so atrocious ... I told him that I wasn't interested, never was and never bloody would be," I recalled unhappily, sobbing even more.

"Why are you crying about it, is it because you do like him, or because you hurt his feelings?"

"I don't fancy him, I don't think, but I can't believe I was so awful to him and I hurt his feelings so badly! Was he upset in the common room?" I asked.

"Well, Sirius was listening at the back of the portrait, but obviously he couldn't hear anything, but James stormed into the common room, Sirius asked him what the problem was, but James just sort of made a sobbing sound and went up to their room," Lizzie told me.

"Oh dear..."

"Lily, he's James Potter. He'll be back to jokes and pranks in a few days. Just apologise to him once you've both calmed down. And maybe be his friend," she suggested.

"Be his friend?"

"Yeah, just be someone he can have a laugh with and talk to. It's a step, isn't it? Then, if he asks you out again, just politely decline. He's a teenage boy – he's bound to be annoying sometimes!"

This made me laugh. "Okay," I said in a tiny voice.

"Everyone's gone to bed, Lily, don't worry. We'll smuggle you through the portrait hole so no-one sees you. I was last there, and I was kind of waiting for you to come back, and you didn't, so I came looking for you."

We got up, and Lizzie turned to me to say something final. "Being his friend will distract him from asking you out all the time, Lily. And he's a nice boy, sweet and kind, even if a trouble-maker at times. Okay?"

I nodded, and we left.

_

* * *

_

Hope you liked it, please review! The next chapter is a very funny one centred on the things the Marauders, along with Lily and her friends, got up to at Christmas. So please review if you want the next chapter!

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	9. Karaoke Competition

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: I really couldn't wait to post this chapter because it is, I have to say, one of my favourites from the whole story, even though it's quite short. When I wrote this it was like Christmas in April because I was listening to Christmas songs whilst writing it! Thank you to Tabithatibi for reviewing all those times and being really supportive to me on fanfiction, she's absolutely lovely :) and thank you to xXMizLilyEvansXx and siriusblackismyhusbandXD (amazing names by the way) for adding my story to their favourites and to xXMizLilyEvansXx for also adding my story to alert! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this, I certainly enjoyed writing it, and please review!

Plus, if you like Twilight, please read my Twilight-based fanfic **Shadow **and if you like Robin Hood BBC (I adore it!!!!) please read my Robin Hood fanfic **Love Like Wildfire**.

* * *

**_Chapter Eight_**

**KARAOKE COMPETITION**

When I wandered into the Gryffindor Common Room that evening, it seemed that everyone had gone home for Christmas. I had chosen not to spend it with my horrible sister and her equally cataclysmic boyfriend, but had remained behind at Hogwarts. Students were scarce, and I know Eden had gone home, as her family were going on holiday to Rome. However, Lizzie, Rhiannon and I had stayed behind, and I believe so had the Marauders – all of them except Peter Pettigrew, whose mother had demanded him home for a traditional family Christmas.

Lizzie was sprawled across the settee by the fire, her nose in a book. When she heard my footsteps, she looked up.

"Lily!" she said affectionately, sitting up and putting her book aside. "Everyone's gone."

"I know – where's Rhiannon?"

"Library. She's just checking out that book she wanted on potion-brewing so she didn't have to worry about it for the rest of the holidays," Lizzie filled me in.

"Oh," I replied vaguely, sitting down in one of the armchairs. The silence was lovely and peaceful. Unfortunately, it didn't last for long.

"ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOUUUUUUU!"

Sirius Black, accompanied by James Potter and Remus Lupin, sauntered in the common room, singing at the top of voice – his distinct lack of singing talent made up for by his over-confident ego.

"Seriously, James, Remus – Prongs, Moony – all I want for Christmas is you, BABYYYYY!" he yelled.

He jumped into the armchair opposite me, and grabbed Lizzie's book out of her hand. He had obviously just consumed a box full of Honeydukes' sweets, or something, because he was so hyper it was untrue.

"Would you mind giving me my book back?" Lizzie scowled at him. It wasn't often she did this, and in my opinion, I think Sirius found it attractive.

Sirius held the book out of Lizzie's reach – he was very tall for his fourteen years of age – and began to read passages of it in a posh, theatrical voice.

"'_Elizabeth had a fair opportunity of deciding whether she most feared or wished for the appearance of Mr Darcy ... Darcy had walked away to another part of the room. She followed him with her eyes, envied everyone to whom he spoke ... _Ooh, a letter ..._My dear Lizzy, I wish you joy. If you love Mr Darcy half as well as I do my dear Wickham, you must be very happy..._'" he quoted, whilst James and Remus rolled around with laughter.

"Do you mind?" Lizzie yelled crossly.

"Alright, alright, you can have–" he turned the book over to observe the title "–'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen back," he said, handing her the book, which Lizzie snatched off him.

"Very good, very romantic. Mind if I borrow it when you're finished?" he asked cheekily.

"Yes, I do mind," Lizzie said, sinking back into the chair, and turning back to her page.

"You know what, Jamesie?" Sirius bellowed. I could hardly believe that Sirius could ever be quiet. "I'M IN THE MOOD, FOR DANCING! ROMANCING!"

This caused James and Remus more laughter.

Sirius stood up. "You know, though, I am actually in the mood for dancing. And singing."

"Sorry Sirius, but in my opinion, you've sung enough already," I said.

"Thank you for your ever-valued opinion, Evans," Sirius said sarcastically.

"What is it that muggles do? They have that funny machine thing, and they sing songs?" James asked thoughtfully.

"Karaoke?" Rhiannon offered, walking into the common room, clutching her library book, which she set down on the table.

"That's it!" Sirius applauded her, in the same manner that someone would clap an important scientist who had found the meaning of life.

"Why don't we have a karaoke competition?" James suggested.

"YES! OOOOOH, BABY, DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT'S WORTH? OOOOOH, HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH!" Sirius contributed. "Can I go first?" he asked excitedly.

"Do we all have to join in?" Lizzie asked, finally putting her book to the side.

"Absotively posolutely," James cried.

"Oh dear," I remarked.

"No 'oh dear's tonight, Evans, tonight will be a night of ROCK AND ROLL!" Sirius yelled, whilst head-banging wildly. He did look quite like the guitarist out of that muggle band he listened to – especially in his school uniform. When I was talking to James at breakfast the other day, he told me that Sirius had a poster of them on his wall. He also commented that it was really weird as the picture didn't move.

I was really quite scared of Sirius at this head-banging moment in time.

"Alright then," Remus piped up, "what are you going to be singing, James, Sirius?"

"I know!" Sirius yelled, clapping his hands together, "I have just the song!"

"Go on then," Rhiannon said, amused.

"I'M, TOO SEXY FOR MY SHIRT, TOO SEXY FOR MY SHIRT, SO SEXY IT HURTS!" he bellowed, more than singing. I had to admit that this was funny.

He added a hilarious 'stage' routine – he climbed up on top of a bookcase and stage dived off it – without being caught. Nevertheless, he carried on, despite being in a considerable amount of pain...

"I'M, TOO SEXY FOR YOUR...owwwww...TOO SEXY FOR...oww my bloody knee hurts!" he yowled.

"Right, Sirius, you've had your turn now!" James cried, getting into the spirit.

"What are you going to sing?"

"Wait and see!" James called. He stood on the table, and closed his eyes meaningfully. The room went silent.

"I SAW THE LIGHT ON THE NIGHT THAT I PASSED HER WINDOW!" he bellowed. His voice was no better than Sirius'.

"Oh no..." Rhiannon groaned.

"Oh yes, Prongs, go baby go!" Sirius yelled, really getting into the spirit of things.

"AS SHE DECEIVED ME I WATCHED AND WENT OUT OF MY MIND!"

"Go on, give it your all, Jamesie!"

"MY, MY, MYYYYYYY, DELILAH!" James howled. He then hopped off the table, and then came and stood directly in front of my armchair, directing his gaze at me.

"WHY, WHY, WHYYYYYYY, DELILAH!"

This was just too much, it was so funny.

Eventually, Remus shut James up, and suggested that we, the girls, had a go.

"Us, sing?" I said nervously.

"Why yes, Evans, have you any problem with that?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, of course not... I merely meant to ask, could we do one as a group?" I said weakly.

"I suppose so."

Rhiannon, Lizzie and I put our heads together, and finally came up with a song to sing.

We turned round to face the boys, still sitting down, and opened our mouths to sing, and Sirius already began to complain.

"Look, Evans, Armstrong, Patterson. How can you give a song your ALL if you're sitting down?"

"Alright," we said grudgingly, and stood up, standing in a line.

"One, two, three, GOOOOO!" James yelled, obviously enjoying himself.

"_Where have all the good men gone_," Rhiannon and Lizzie sang.

"_And where are all the Gods_?" I sang, quite tunefully for me.

"WE'RE HERE!" James and Sirius yelled, jumping up and down on the spot, whooping.

Now I was really getting into it.

"I NEED A HERO! I'M HOLDIN' OUT FOR A HERO TILL THE END OF THE NIGHT! HE'S GOTTA BE STRONG!"

James flexed his muscles menacingly.

"HE'S GOTTA BE FAST!"

Sirius raced round the room rapidly.

"AND HE'S GOTTA BE FRESH FROM THE FIGHT!"

James and Sirius wrestled each other to the ground, and then jumped back up again, smiling merrily.

When we finished, we all flopped back down on the sofas.

"Where did you hear that song?" Remus asked.

"It's gonna be a big hit in ten years," I smiled, "I saw it in Divination the other day."

_

* * *

_

I hope you liked that chapter! By the way, when Sirius was reading out of Lizzie's book, and said, "Ooh, a letter..." I kind of modelled it on something Nick in

My Family _said when his girlfriend was leaving him a note to say she was leaving, but he said, "Ooh, a love letter..." I hope you know what I'm talking about!! I hope you liked the songs as well - they weren't all exactly authentic but they were just too good to not use in this case so let's just say they are very good at Divination!_

_Anyway, please review if you want the next chapter - which contains much James/Lily and a little bit of what I hope is comedy... thanks for reading, PLEASE review!!!_

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	10. Friend of Flobberworms

****

Such Sweethearts

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: I'm updating again!! So this is another jump in time - but don't worry, we kind of settle at this point for a while :) Thank you to , wannabe witch11 and sarlovesoccer for reviewing; thank you to Litira for adding this story to alert and thank you to for adding me as a favourite author! I'm not sure if I've said thank you to those who have added me as a favourite author so here goes - thank you to Izzi Creo, Magpie287, sarlovesoccer, Tabithatibi and X-DoraLinbut-X!!! I hope you enjoy this chapter, please review to get the next one!

* * *

**_Chapter Nine_**

**"FRIENDS OF FLOBBERWORMS!"**

Books were piled up in front of me. They were all open, on random pages, pages I was supposed to be studying for my OWLs in May and June. I could not take this revising anymore! This was my lunch hour, for crying out loud! My friends had stayed in the Great Hall to finish eating their lunch, but I had merely grabbed a sandwich, as it was often my habit to do, and hurried off to the library, with all my books stuffed into my bag. James was always joking that my bag would split one day. To be honest, it was very probable.

I was sitting on a chair, my head leaning on my Ancient Runes translation dictionary, silent. I had been in the library looking at books for ten minutes, and my head already felt like it was going to explode. I glanced at my turquoise watch. Quarter past one. Forty-five minutes left.

Everyone was saying that I was working myself too hard. I was inclined to agree. Virtually every lunchtime and evening, you would find me down in the library studying. Hey, I was an interesting fifth-year!

I actually could not take this anymore. I deserved a break. I began to pack my books away, then stopped. I could not afford to take a break – I needed to know all this stuff! Grudgingly, I got the books out again and put them back on the table.

"Lily?"

I looked up. James was standing there looking at me incredulously. "You're in the library _again_?"

I nodded.

"But Lily, the exams are months away!"

"I need to know this stuff, but quite frankly, I am fed up with revising. I need to get outside, to get fresh air!" I declared.

"Okay, Lily, listen – I've got to go outside to check on my Care of Magical Creatures project... would you like to go with me? It'll only take half an hour, or so, and you look like you could do with a break," James offered.

"Yes, that'd be nice, thank you," I replied. He helped me stuff the books back into my bag – we couldn't get my Transfiguration textbook back in, so he offered to put it in his bag.

"Thanks, James."

"Don't worry, Lily," he said kindly.

We left the library together. Lizzie's idea of me and James being friends was really good. He had left the asking me out thing alone slightly, limiting it to five times a week, and comparing that to his record of two hundred and forty six times in one day, it was an improvement. He was actually quite mature and caring when you got to know him. Yes, he was still pulling pranks, but he had stopped annoying me, almost!

"What's this project then?" I smiled.

He smiled back. I liked his smile – a lot – he had nice, straight teeth and the smile brightened up his whole face. He tended to smile a lot when we were together.

"Professor Kettleburn gave us all something to look after," he told me. "Me and Sirius are partnered on it – it's my turn to go and feed it."

"What exactly is 'it'?" I asked uncertainly.

"Oh don't worry, it's nothing dangerous!" he laughed. I liked his laugh too. He ran his fingers through his hair – giving himself the windswept look. I liked that too. "Just some Flobberworms."

"Flobberworms?" I echoed dubiously.

"Yep," he grinned. "It wasn't my first choice, but..."

"But what?" I asked. We were walking out of the castle now, into the grounds.

"Well, me and Sirius were trying to turn Malfoy's hair blue, so whilst we were concentrating on the spell we missed what Kettleburn was saying. Needless to say, we got the worst project. Verity Oldham and Martina Ellis got to look after unicorns! So the last project left was Flobberworms. It was either that or writing a ten foot essay on how to look after magical creatures."

"So you took the Flobberworms?"

"Obviously."

We were almost at Hagrid's hut. I really liked Hagrid, he was so kind and was even nice to James and Sirius. That took a lot of patience!

Hagrid was out tending to his cabbages.

"Alrigh', James, Lily? Where yer off ter?" Hagrid asked.

"Forest – looking after mine and Sirius' Flobberworms. Lily's just coming with me," James told him.

"Oh, righ'," Hagrid said, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Just as friends!" I said hurriedly.

"O' course, Lily, didn' think yer were up ter anything else," Hagrid replied. We carried on.

"Just friends, eh? Want to break that barrier, Lily, because don't worry, I won't tell a soul!" James said suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows.

I laughed. "No thanks, James, can we just go to the Flobberworms, the forest gives me the creeps!"

"Suit yourself," he said, leading me through the dense, dark trees to a clearing where several menageries had been set up.

"Goodness, it's like a Hogwarts zoo!" I laughed.

"Yep, and over here is the Flobberworms enclosure!" James said in a majestic voice.

"Er, lovely!" I said, amused at James' careful way of feeding the Flobberworms – shoving a piece of lettuce in the direction of each of them. "Shouldn't you be doing that a little more delicately, you might be choking the poor things!?"

"Aah, Lily, compassionate friend of the Flobberworms," he beamed at me.

"Excuse me, I am not a friend of the Flobberworms!" I retorted, smiling though.

"Yes you are. That's why you set up FOFWWRFF!" James said. I raised an eyebrow.

"And what exactly is FOFWWRFF?" I asked.

"Friends of Flobberworms, We Want Rights For Flobberworms," he said, pouring a bucket of water over the soil.

"Careful, don't drown them!" I said involuntarily.

"I see – Right One, Flobberworms have a right not to be drowned. Right Two – Flobberworms have a right not to have lettuce shoved in their gobs," James teased.

"Right Three – Flobberworms have the right not to be fed by James Potter or Sirius Black, they are a serious hazard to public health," I replied.

"Oh, you're playing it like that are you?" James said. I stepped forward.

"Of course."

"So if I am such a hazard to public health, why are you standing so close, Lily?" James asked quizzically.

I jumped back, blushed and turned away. Goodness, Lily, you couldn't have made that more obvious!

"I wasn't, James!" I replied in an unusually high-pitched voice.

"Alright then..."

We were silent for a few moments, until James declared, "The Flobberworms are fed! Sound the bells at FOFWWRFF! I am an FOF! I am a Friend of Flobberworms!"

I had to admit, he was rather funny. A giggle escaped my mouth.

"Come on Lily, President of FOFWWRFF!" he held out his arm for me to take. I shook my head.

"Come on Lily, otherwise I'll sing Delilah again for you!" he said. I immediately took his arm, remembering his alarmingly diabolical rendition of Delilah at the Gryffindor karaoke competition last Christmas, in fourth year. I also remembered that he had sung most of it to me.

We headed back to the castle.

_

* * *

_

Hope you liked it - a little bit of James/Lily friendship stuff. Please review if you want the next chapter, during which there is a very interesting announcement and Lily and Lizzie cook up a very devious idea together! Thanks for reading,

:) x Lily Orange x (:

_PS. On my profile I now have summaries and story teasers for all my stories, including forthcoming stories and ideas, so please check it out!! :)_


	11. Masquerade Ball

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: I really wanted to post this to let you know what was going to happen next and I had such lovely reviews from Tabithatibi, Kuroi Kasai (thank you also for adding my story as a favourite and to your alerts) and sarlovesoccer so I decided to post another chapter for you. Thank you also to wiatch for adding this as a favourite story. Seriously (honestly, no pun intended ;P that really made me laugh!) it means a lot to me and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

**_Chapter Ten_**

**MASQUERADE BALL**

I was juggling a pile of books on the way to my Transfiguration lesson. James appeared from another corridor, and took the pile off me.

"Thanks," I smiled. "It's like this is a regular occurrence!"

"No problem," he said. We walked into Transfiguration together, I took my usual seat between Lizzie and Rhiannon and he carefully put the pile of books on my desk for me, before sitting in his usual seat between Sirius and Remus, behind me.

"You and James, eh?" Eden whispered to me.

"Oh, no, he was just helping me carry my books!" I whispered back a hurried response whilst Eden grinned knowingly.

Professor McGonagall materialized from her office door. "Good morning," she greeted us.

I liked this class – it was Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. This meant that we did not have to talk to the Slytherins, who, as I established within half an hour of being at Hogwarts, were horrible, and didn't have to converse with the Hufflepuffs – namely Verity Oldham – who Rhiannon still hadn't forgiven for going out with Jasper Rathbone for six months in fourth year. He was currently single, and she was living in hope.

At this moment in time, Rhiannon was staring at Jasper – more specifically, the back of his head. Every time she did this, she assured me that it was just as handsome as the front of his head. I was sceptical, but stayed quiet.

"I have some news for you, which will probably excite you," McGonagall announced. Sirius sat forward on his desk, his eyes wide open, and his mouth tight lipped. He looked hilarious.

"The Staff have agreed to put something on to relieve some exam stress and let the fifth year enjoy themselves – this will take the form of a Masquerade Ball, on Saturday the twenty-fourth of April, at eight p.m. And, to add an extra element of mystery to it, we have decided that who you go with will be a secret – every young lady in this room is take one of these folded pieces of paper with a name of every young man on them, and they will then be meeting this person for the ball. But you mustn't swap the pieces of paper, or tell the young men who you are going with. They will meet you in the Entrance Hall at eight o'clock in six weeks time. Coincidentally, a visit to Hogsmeade has been scheduled in four weeks, so you can buy any dress robes or masks you want to wear then. Now, can every young lady come up to the front to take a piece of paper please?" McGonagall asked. We all got up.

"Please be Jasper," Rhiannon whispered in my ear, with a wicked smile.

_Please be James_, I thought to myself, then realised what I had just thought. That had been completely involuntary! It was probably because we were such good friends. Lizzie looked slightly worried at who her date would be – I knew she liked Sirius, and I had a sneaking suspicion that he liked her (despite the fact that he had been out with numerous girls in our year, Emmeline Cuthbert twice) – Remus would be okay, he was good to talk to and friendly.

Peter, on the other hand, would be awful as a date.

For Ravenclaw, there was Jasper Rathbone, Rhys Wilkes, Matthew Charles and Edward Kennedy. I was quite nervous about who I'd get as my date when I took the piece of paper from the pot on McGonagall's desk – I opened it, and saw the name...

_Sirius Black_.

Lizzie looked over my shoulder, and frowned, but then laughed.

"What's so funny?" I muttered.

"Look at who I got," she said – I glanced at her paper.

_James Potter_.

"How ironic," Lizzie remarked.

"Why would I want to go with James?" I said in that same high-pitched, unnatural voice I had used earlier. What was getting into me?

Lizzie just raised an eyebrow, and started trying to change her shoe to a rabbit.

When we left the classroom, Eden and Rhiannon showed us who they had as dates. Rhiannon had Jasper Rathbone. She was so excited and happy she looked like she might shoot through the ceiling. Eden had Remus. She looked quite happy about it – she said she'd rather him than Peter Pettigrew or Matthew Charles, and at least she could have an intelligent conversation with him.

We went off to the common room. Lizzie said to me, as honestly as she had ever spoken about her actual feelings, "I wish I had Sirius as my date. I really want to know what he actually thinks of me! And you, Lily, I bet you wanted James!"

There was no use lying to myself. I think I was actually falling for that messy-haired, hazel-eyed, trouble-making Potter.

"I did," I quietly admitted. "But the thing is – he asked me out so much I just can't believe it's real. It sounds so much like a joke. And I want to know what he really thinks of me too..." I drifted off.

We sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Lizzie," I said suddenly, "I have an idea and a half."

"Ooh, what is it?" she asked excitedly, tearing her eyes away from an excited Rhiannon who was telling Eden exactly what kind of dress and mask she would be getting for the ball to impress Jasper.

"Well, we can't swap dates, but we could always swap bodies," I suggested.

"Polyjuice potion," she smiled.

"Exactly. And we would have it in just enough time for the ball... we'd find out exactly what the both of them think of us," I grinned.

"Lily Evans, you are being wicked!" Lizzie laughed.

Sirius came prancing into the common room. "CAN ANYBODY FIND MEEEEEEEE SOMEBODY TOOOOOO LOOOOVEEEEE!" he yelled. I smirked at his extraordinarily tuneless voice. He bounded over to where we were sitting – James, Remus and Peter coming through the portrait hole.

"Girls, girls, _girls_..." he said, sitting on the table in front of our armchairs.

"What, what, _what_?" Rhiannon asked.

"Well, you talk to each other, don't you?"

I rolled my eyes at Eden, who returned the gesture.

"So, evidently, you must know who we shall be meeting behind the mask on the twenty-fourth of April!" Sirius coaxed.

"Nuh-huh, we are not saying a single thing," I smiled, finding the strangled look on his face rather amusing.

"Pleeeeeeaaaasseeeeee Evans!"

"No, Sirius, I'm not telling you. You can go back to singing 'Somebody to Love'," I grinned. He frowned, then turned to Rhiannon.

"Pleeeeeaaaaaasssseeeeee Patterson!"

She shook her head.

"Pleeeeeeaaaaaaassssseeeeee Thomas!"

Eden just looked at him, and he went, "I take it that's a no, right?"

"You catch on well," she replied.

"Pleeeeeaaaasseeeeeeeeee Lizzie!"

"Hey, why do all the rest of us get addressed by our last names when Lizzie gets her first?" Rhiannon asked indignantly.

"Because she is special," Sirius answered.

"And why is that?"

"Because she is going to tell me!!"

"Sorry Sirius, no. You'll just have to wait and find out!"

"Dammit!" he cursed, before going and sitting with his friends in their usual corner.

"Having power over him is fun," Lizzie commented. We laughed. It definitely was.

*

"I have the boomslang skin and lacewing flies," I whispered to Lizzie. We were brewing the Polyjuice potion in our bedroom. It wouldn't be secret from the house elves, but we couldn't think of anywhere else to make it.

"Good, I've got the rest," Lizzie replied. She set them out on her bedside table.

"I cannot wait to ask the boys what they really think," I said, with distinct glee.

"I know!"

*

The afternoon in Hogsmeade came fast. Normally, we went with the boys into Hogsmeade, but this time, we had decided it would be different. We got dressed, left the potion simmering in our room, and left the castle. We all had our money, ready to buy our dresses and masks for the Masquerade Ball.

"I am going with either black, or silver," Rhiannon declared. "And I want to curl my hair properly."

"Nice," Eden said.

We headed for Gladrags Wizard Wear. Luckily, we had got there before the rest of the fifth year, so would get the pick of the bunch. Me and Lizzie decided that we would buy our own clothes, and hair and make-up products, and masks, and then we would just wear what the other had bought for themselves – but for us really in their body.

"Now I love this!" Lizzie said. She picked up a twenties-style flapper dress, red, with fringing. It would have suited her slim frame.

"That's gorgeous!" Eden praised the dress heartily. "I want something in midnight blue."

She scoured the racks, as was I. I wanted something absolutely perfect. Lizzie seemed set on the flapper dress and was just searching for some shoes and a mask to match.

Eden eventually found a midnight blue dress – it was floor length silk, with a silver jewelled belt. It was a high neckline, and would complement her hair and eyes perfectly. She had also picked up some glittery silver shoes that were really pretty.

"These are mine!" she proclaimed, putting her money on the counter for the assistant to cash. "Do you have any masks?"

"Right this way, madam," the assistant said, leading her over to a big display of masks. While she was uming and aahing, I was still trying to find a lovely dress. Rhiannon had found a cream dress with lace on it. It went against her previous declaration, but she just said she didn't care she just wanted to looked bloody great for Jasper.

I had almost given up hope of finding something perfect for me, or Lizzie pretending to be me, when I found a green dress at the end of the rack. It was knee-length, with a full skirt, and white flowers – lilies – sewn in garlands around it. I actually fell in love with it there and then. Next to it was a pair of strappy flat shoes with a little lily on the toe, and a mask that was cream with lilies and green ribbons on it.

"Wow, Lily, that is so lovely!" Rhiannon called, carrying the bags with her party attire in.

Soon, we were all finished in the clothes shop. We spotted the Gryffindor boys coming out of the Three Broomsticks. Before we could quickly get in the next shop, which sold Sleekeazy hair potions and makeup, they noticed us, and came running over – except James and Sirius ran in slow motion melodramatically.

"What've you bought?" Remus asked.

"Clothes," Eden answered.

"No, really?" Sirius asked acerbically.

"Yep, believe it or not," Lizzie beamed at him.

"Can we look?" James asked.

"Absolutely not," Rhiannon ordered.

"We'd better go, don't forget your dress robes!" we called after them as they headed for Zonko's Joke Shop.

_

* * *

_

Ooh, Lily and Lizzie have cooked up a plan... please review to find out exactly what happens at the ball and whether the girls' plan goes how it is supposed to... and plus the next chapter is quite a lot longer than all of the rest so I think you'll enjoy it! Thank you for reading, please, please, PLEASE drop a review, even if it's just a couple of words!

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	12. Polyjuice Potion

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: Here is the chapter of what goes on at the Masquerade Ball! Thank you to wannabe witch11, bluesmidge101, Alana and Litira for reviewing, thank you to BubbleLove1234 for adding this story to alert and thank you to BubbleLove1234 and Lilith Volturi for adding this as a favourite story, it means a lot to me :) And, to answer bluesmidge101's question, Rebecca Villade will be making an appearance quite soon, but don't worry, she's not just a random girl in my summary! Thank you so much, please enjoy this and review!

* * *

**_Chapter Eleven_**

**POLYJUICE POTION**

Friday the twenty-third of April was a day of much excitement and gossiping. We got on rather well with the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff girls, and most of us began to chat by the lake at lunchtime about who we had as our partner for the ball. Rhiannon was very happy to find out that Verity Oldham had to go with Lucius Malfoy.

I felt sorry for her – Lucius Malfoy was not a boy I would want to spend more than a minute in the company of, and that would be as long as he kept his mouth closed.

"Who did you get, Alice?" Eden asked to our friend Alice Little.

"Frank," she smiled. Alice Little and Frank Longbottom made the perfect couple – they were both sweet, kind and caring and cute. I knew how much Alice liked him – obviously she, like Rhiannon, was using this as a way of impressing him.

"I got Peter Pettigrew," Martina Ellis said, completely unimpressed with this fact.

"He's not so bad," I said soothingly.

"He is!" Martina retorted, but then she laughed. "Who are you taking Lily?"

"Sirius," I replied emotionlessly.

"Oh, Sirius is very good looking and charming, of course, but I would have thought that James would make a better date for you," Martina remarked.

"Well, I couldn't exactly see through the paper, could I, Martina?" I smiled.

"Exactly – if I could have, I would have picked either Sirius or Jasper. Who got Jasper and James, anyway?" Martina continued.

"I got Jasper," Rhiannon said proudly.

"Lucky you, you'll have such a good time, he's so lovely," Verity told her. Rhiannon forced a smile at her.

"I got James," Lizzie announced.

"Oh, that's ironic, isn't it? I would have thought Sirius would be better for you, Lizzie, and James for you, Lily," Martina commented.

We managed to suppress a blush or a smile.

"Yeah, I suppose," Lizzie replied.

"Just don't tell Sirius who everyone has got," Eden said, "he keeps coming up to us and begging to tell him who they will be with for the ball. It's rather funny. James got in on the act yesterday and they knelt to the ground and practically begged Lizzie and Lily to tell them. It was hilarious, especially when they told them no and they pretended to cry."

"Who've you got, Eden?" Verity asked.

"Remus Lupin," Eden answered, "he's not the best looking boy in the world but he's kind and funny, and he's intelligent so you can have a good conversation with him. I don't know who else I would have wanted, anyway."

"I wouldn't have minded Remus," Charlotte Rivers said in a small voice. "I got Rhys Wilkes."

"So who got Edward Kennedy and Matthew Charles?" I asked, puzzled. We turned to the only two Ravenclaw girls left, Patricia Lewis and Veronica May.

"Edward," Patricia said.

"Matthew," Veronica said.

We looked towards the Hufflepuffgirls. We only knew so far of Alice and Frank – Eden asked them who they all had. It was quite intriguing finding out about the prospective dates!

"I'm going with Harold Ogden," Daisy Reid told us. "Like Eden said, he's not the best looking boy in the world, but at least you can talk to him!"

"Unlike Peter Pettigrew," Martina inserted scornfully. She really wasn't happy about that match.

"Regulus Black," Emmeline Cuthbert told us. "I quite like him, actually, so I'm pleased about that!"

We all giggled girlishly, despite the fact that she was attracted to a Slytherin; it was, after all, practically mandatory to giggle if a girl announces a crush on someone.

"Is that a giggle I hear?" I heard James' voice. He and Sirius had ventured over from their tree to beg us yet one more time for details on their prospective partners for the ball.

"It might be," I answered, grinning at him.

"Giggles only occur when you're up to something, or discussing boys," Sirius remarked wisely.

"And how would you know that?" Lizzie asked him, interested.

"Oh, we conducted a survey," Sirius nodded.

"Will you tell us who you're going with?" James pleaded.

"Nope," I replied, smiling sweetly. Sirius groaned. Then he and James looked at each other, grinning.

"Then it looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way," Sirius said.

"I agree. One, two, three..."

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT, WON'T YOU TELL ME, WE WANT TO KNOW IT, AND CAN'T YOU TELL ME? OH WE DO, WE DO, WE DO, WE DO, WE DO!" they sang, extremely tunelessly and extremely thunderously, modifying the words to the song to fit their useless request.

"No."

"Pleeeaaaaseee Lily!" James begged. I shook my head. Sirius jumped into the middle of the group, knelt down and pleaded to us all.

"No chance," Lizzie said.

"Looks like we're gonna have to go for Plan B, James," Sirius said.

"Couldn't agree more."

"What's Plan B?" I asked nervously – but James just picked me up and ran off with me, so I had to hold on to him to avoid being dropped. Sirius did the same to Lizzie. I could hear her squealing, but I knew she was enjoying it really. I know I was.

"Put me down, I am _not_ going to tell you!" I screeched.

"Alright then," he said, and he put me down on the ground. He stood there, looking at me lying still on the ground for a few seconds, then he started tickling me.

"No! No! _Nooooooo!_" I heard Lizzie screaming – she was really ticklish.

"Will you tell me who I'm going with?" James asked.

"No."

"Will you say yes or no to some people's names?"

"Maybe."

"Right then, are you my secret date?" he asked, hopefully.

"No," I shook my head reluctantly, and blushed.

"Is Lizzie Sirius' secret date?" he continued, looking at his best friend, who was making the normally perfectly composed Lizzie writhe around on the floor from him tickling her.

"No," I answered.

"Was that honest and truthful?"

"Yes, it was, James."

"Alright then, I'll take you back. Can I carry you?" he grinned.

"I am capable of walking," I laughed.

"Can I carry you anyway?" he smiled.

"Go on, then," I replied, and he picked me up. This time he walked slowly. I was truly savouring the moment – I was in danger of falling hard for James Potter.

*

"It's definitely ready!" Lizzie called. I heard her down the stairs and in the common room. I was sat by the table with Rhiannon, poring over my Arithmancy book.

"What's ready?" James asked inquisitively, from his armchair behind mine.

"My outfit. I'm off to get ready!" I told him.

"Bet you look great!" he shouted after me as I bounded up the stairs.

I entered the dorm room. Being the organised people we were, we had laid our outfits and things out on our beds. On my bed was my beautiful lily dress with the mask and shoes; on Rhiannon's was the cream lace dress; on Eden's was the midnight blue ensemble, and on Lizzie's was the red flapper dress and her accessories.

"Right, Lily, I think we should put a strand of hair in, drink it, and then get ready, what do you think?" Lizzie asked. I nodded. I pulled a strand of my long red hair out and put it in the glass in front of Lizzie. She did the same with mine. The potion in Lizzie's goblet turned a lovely, syrupy colour and in mine, it turned the colour of strawberries.

"Before we drink it – we should really make some more and put it in some flasks. Then we can drink it every hour – how many shall we make, six each?" Lizzie questioned. I nodded. We did the same, putting some potion into little hip flasks.

Then we drank it.

Two minutes later, we observed ourselves in the mirror. I now had bright blue eyes, blonde hair down to my chest, and rosy cheeks. Lizzie now had waist-length fiery red hair, emerald green eyes and pale skin.

"Let's get ready, then!" I said enthusiastically. I couldn't wait to get into the dress Lizzie had picked.

An hour later, we were properly ready. Rhiannon and Eden were dressed in their beautiful dresses, shoes on, hair and makeup done, and masks on. Lizzie – or rather, Lizzie as me – looked amazing in the forest green flowery dress, sandals and mask. And when I surveyed myself in the mirror, me as Lizzie looked amazing too. We drank a bit more Polyjuice potion, and then Eden nipped down the stairs to see if the boys were out of the common room. I looked at myself in the mirror again. The red, knee-length, fringed dress looked so perfect, and with the red peep-toe heels and feathered and jewelled mask, it looked amazing. I was so happy.

"All clear!" Eden called. We followed her down the stairs. A couple of the sixth- and seventh-year boys looked at us in a whole different light as we emerged out of the dormitory stairs. I guess we did look rather different – we were normally in school uniform or jeans, so dressing up was a rather altered look for us.

I really couldn't wait to see the look on the boys' faces. We were at the top of the stairs, and we could see all the boys lined up, tentatively, in dress robes. James looked so handsome in his.

"Sirius looks so good," Lizzie whispered in my ear. I smiled.

"Down we go, girls!" Eden ordered. We followed her out of the little gallery we were hiding in and descended the stairs. I quickly observed the look James was giving Lizzie as me. It was such a nice look, that I almost ran into his arms. Then I remembered, that I was Lizzie, and I couldn't do that. I also looked at the look Sirius was giving me as Lizzie. It was pretty much the same.

"So, girls, who are our dates for this evening?" Sirius asked cockily.

Rhiannon walked to Jasper. He lifted off her mask, and smiled at her. I remember thinking that she would have an amazing evening with him.

Eden walked towards Remus, and they went into the Great Hall, discussing Transfiguration or something.

James and Sirius now looked hopeful. I hated to disappoint them, but we went and stood by them. They didn't look too disappointed, but looked longingly at the other's partner.

"So, Lizzie, how are you?" James asked as we entered the Great Hall.

"I'm fine, thank you, you?" I replied.

"Good, yeah. Shall we dance?"

"Okay," I said. I noticed how many looks Sirius and James were flashing each other.

After we had danced for half an hour, we sat down at one of the tables.

"James..." I drifted off.

"Yes, Lizzie?" he asked.

"What do you really think of Lily?" I quizzed him.

"Well... promise you won't tell her?" I nodded. "I think she's amazing. She's clever, pretty, beautiful, kind, nice, caring, lovely... she's just perfect. I just wish she'd like me back," he said, slightly sadly. We got up to dance again.

"Maybe she does," I hinted. His ears pricked up like a little puppy. "But I think because you used to ask her out so much..."

"Two hundred and forty six times in one day was my record," he smiled.

"... I don't think she thinks that you mean it, that it's just become a joke," I told him earnestly.

"You think?" I nodded. "What should I do then?"

"Leave it for a while, carry on with your mischief and then ask her again in a really special way. She'll appreciate that," I told him.

"Thanks, Lizzie... can I ask you something?" James said.

"Uh, okay," I replied.

"Does Lily think I'm stupid and immature?" he asked. Gosh, he looked really worried and concerned, whilst watching Lizzie (as me) dance with Sirius.

There was no way I thought he was stupid. Yes, his jokes were childish but I found it – yes, I'll admit it – kind of charming. There was no way I thought him, his actual person, stupid or immature.

"No, she doesn't," I replied.

"Sure?"

"Positive. And you should pick her up again like you did yesterday, she loved it," I told him cheekily.

He grinned. "Thanks, Lizzie."

"Don't mention it. Shall we sit down?" I suggested. He nodded.

We were soon joined by Lizzie, Sirius, Remus and Eden. Me and Lizzie remembered to drink out of our hip flasks. It was lucky, normally we would have forgotten!

"You know, the music is getting a bit slow," Sirius remarked. "Whaddaya say? Shall I _liven_ it up a bit?"

I remembered Sirius' several disastrous attempts at singing over the past few years. Christmas fourth year, 'All I Want For Christmas Is You', and his rendition of 'I'm Too Sexy' reduced me to tears. Tears of laughter. And this year? He had already stamped his name upon 'Somebody To Love' and 'I do, I do, I do'. How else could he ruin our favourite songs?

"Uh, Sirius, I don't think that's quite such a good idea..." Lily, or Lizzie, said, reading my expression.

"Nonsense!" he cried. "Prongs, Moony?"

"Yeah, Padfoot, you'll definitely liven it up," James smirked.

"I'm sure the rest of our year desires to hear your magnificent singing voice," Remus grinned.

"Oh definitely," Sirius said, "couldn't agree more."

"Sirius, really, it's not–" Eden said. We looked over at Rhiannon and Jasper, who were dancing slowly to the romantic tune that was currently playing.

"Rhiannon, and her gorgeous date, will love my singing voice! I am totally outstanding! Bravura! Dazzling! _Exceptional_!" he exclaimed.

Suddenly he did something we were totally unprepared for – he stood up on his chair, and started banging his wand against his goblet, showering me and James with gold and red sparks.

Everybody turned around.

"Now, people of fifth-year, prepare yourselves for a show of brilliance! An event of complete and utter entertainment! Now, everybody, listen whilst the Marauders _rock you_!"

"Oh no," I murmured, watching Sirius suddenly cast a spell on the speakers so they were emitting a loud, guitar tune that I vaguely recognised – Sirius seemed to be a big follower of Muggle bands.

"GET YOUR PARTY GOWN, GET YOUR PIGTAIL DOWN, GET YOUR HEART BEATIN' BABYYYY!" he screeched. I could see the other fifth-years present either covering their ears, or laughing in enjoyment of Sirius' spectacle. At least it was something amusing – which was what Sirius had intended it to be.

"You have to hand it to Padfoot," Remus laughed, clapping along with the other Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. The teachers looked slightly bemused, but also quite entertained.

"IT'S GOTTA BE TONIGHT MY LITTLE _SCHOOL BABE_!" he continued. It was now only the Slytherins who didn't seem to be enjoying themselves. I also observed that Verity Oldham had left Lucius Malfoy by himself to join Sirius' adoring crowd.

"TIE YOUR MOTHER DOWN, TIE YOUR MOTHER DOWN! LOCK YOUR DADDY OUTTA DOORS I DON'T NEED HIM NOSIN' AROUND!" Sirius bellowed.

At this, McGonagall got up and walked over to break up his little singing session.

"Mr Black, whilst we agree that you have an admirable voice, could you please refrain from standing on top of a table and bellowing obscenities in the Great Hall?" she asked.

"Oh, alright then, Professor," he said reluctantly, getting down, whilst Rhiannon, Martina and Jasper yelled "ENCORE, ENCORE!"

"Sorry guys," he yelled, "tour dates'll be up next year!"

You had to hand it to him, he knew how to control a crowd.

The events of the Masquerade Ball certainly livened up my revision schedule. But getting back to the common room at one in the morning certainly disrupted it. Sirius had continued to sing in the common room – there were a few sixth- and seventh-years left in the room. They brightened up considerably when they saw us girls walk in. But when they saw we were followed by the Marauders, any interest diminished within nanoseconds.

"How about a little more singing? Lizzie, Lily, I know you like it especially!" Sirius beamed at us.

"No thank you," I said. "I just wanna go to bed."

"Aww, is ickle Wizzie tired?" Sirius mocked. I suddenly remembered that I was still Lizzie.

"Yes, definitely," I replied.

"I'll carry you, if you want," Sirius offered.

"No thanks," I laughed. "G'night, though."

Sirius hugged me. Lily – or rather Lizzie as me – looked at me incredulously. Obviously she had been telling Sirius the same sort of things I had been telling James.

"G'night all!" I said, then I waited for Lizzie – still me – who was hugged by James.

We were quickly followed by Rhiannon and Eden. Rhiannon was babbling on dreamily about her magical night with Jasper – he had asked her to the next Hogsmeade weekend, so she was ecstatic.

"Sirius likes me!" Lizzie sang happily – we had finally turned back to ourselves. "So I told him a few things... and I reckon it's going the right way!"

"Similar with James," I said. I was still wearing Lizzie's dress. I changed into my green pyjamas and gave Lizzie her party clothes back – she passed me my outfit back and I carefully placed it back in my trunk under my bed.

"What about you and Remus?" Rhiannon asked Eden. "You were dancing the night away until Sirius' little concert!"

"We were discussing academic subjects, actually," Eden replied, sticking her tongue out at Rhiannon childishly.

And so we went on discussing these things until half-two.

_

* * *

_

I hope you enjoyed Sirius' little concert! I forgot to say, I don't own the lyrics to the songs I have used, which, so far, are (with dates, which aren't exactly authentic, but let's pretend they are better than Professor Trelawney at Divination): "All I Want For Christmas Is You", by Mariah Carey (1994); "I'm In The Mood For Dancing", The Nolans (1979); "Heaven Is A Place On Earth", Belinda Carlisle (1987); "I'm Too Sexy", Right Said Fred (1991); "Delilah", Tom Jones (1968 - yay, a song which they actually might have known!); "Holding Out For A Hero", Bonnie Tyler, 1984; "Somebody To Love", Queen (1976); "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do", ABBA (1975); "Tie Your Mother Down", Queen (1977). Phew, that's a lot of songs!

_I hope you liked how the chapter panned out, please review to tell me what you think and to get the next chapter, which includes OWLs and a surprise for Lily!!!! Thank you for reading!_

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	13. Ordinary Wizarding Level Examinations

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: I decided to post again because I got 5 reviews, thank you so much! Thank you to Rider Arya Svit-kona, magic-pearl, sarlovesoccer and Tabithatibi (who reviewed twice! Thank you you're so kind and lovely :D to answer your question, yes, Rhiannon and Eden do know what Lizzie and Lily were up to - they are too observant to miss anything like that!) for reviewing and to magic-pearl for adding my story to her favourites, to her alerts and adding me as a favourite author. This chapter is a short one but is necessary to move the plot onwards so I hope you like Lily's surprise!! Please read and review, I'd really appreciate it!

**_

* * *

_**

Chapter Twelve

**ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVELS EXAMINATIONS**

My first day of our two-week examination period (which I had been dreading for months) began quite nicely, with a letter from home. I always enjoyed these letters from my parents – hardly any of them mentioned Petunia, but I was definitely okay with that.

_Dear Lily, _it said,

_We hope you are okay and wish you good luck for your exams. We know you'll do superbly. Dad thought you'd like to know that we have booked a holiday for when you come home for the summer – nothing abroad, but we booked a cottage in Cornwall for two weeks. It's quite large, so you can invite round some friends. Petunia has decided she's going to stay at home with Vernon – and me and your Dad are going to be sight-seeing, so you can invite a bunch of friends and you can go to the beach everyday for a fortnight because it's only a ten minute country-side walk from there. You'll have so much fun! Just ask six or seven, that'll be fine. Wishing you more luck on your exams, write back soon, love you lots and lots,_

_Mum and Dad_

"Cornwall!" I said excitedly. I loved Cornwall. And friends! Six or seven... that meant all four of us girls, if they weren't doing anything that week, and some of the Marauders... that would be a fun week.

"Lily, good news from home?" Rhiannon commented, noting the smile on my face.

"Yeah, girls, doing anything over the summer?" I asked animatedly.

"Skiing, all summer," Eden said.

"Nothing," Lizzie and Rhiannon said in sync.

"My parents are renting a cottage near the beach in Cornwall for a fortnight, and said I could invite some friends!" I told them.

"Aww, that's sweet!" Lizzie said.

"That'd be so good!" Rhiannon grinned.

"I'm allowed to ask the Marauders as well," I continued.

"Don't bother asking Peter, his mum is taking him to Loch Ness to see his family. Martina was telling me about it after the ball," Rhiannon said.

I turned to James, Remus and Sirius. "Doing anything over the summer?"

"Why, Evans?" Sirius asked. I guessed he'd be at James', like he usually was for most holidays.

"My parents are renting a cottage by a beach in Cornwall, said I could invite some friends? Last two weeks of the holiday, until the last day of August," I filled them in.

"Sounds great," James said. "So, we're classified as your friends now?" he continued playfully.

"'Course," I smiled.

"Well, yes, then," Sirius answered, looking pleased. "Lizzie and Rhiannon going?" I nodded. Remus also looked pretty happy about going.

"Settled, then," I concluded, scribbling a quick but affectionate note on a piece of parchment from my pocket.

"What exams have we got first?" Eden asked. She really did not look happy about our OWLs.

"History of Magic," I replied, stimulating a multitude of groans.

"Wonder what the Defence Against the Dark Arts exam'll be like," James said. He was poking a sausage with his wand, making it change colour every time. It was now a vibrant purple.

"Prongs, are you nervous or something?" Sirius asked, clocking the magically colour-changing sausage on James' plate.

"Yep."

"Oh, right. You know, I'm so bogged down with exam stress that I can't even think of a song to sing! I am depressed!" Sirius declared histrionically.

"That's not necessary a bad thing," I muttered in Lizzie's ear, who spluttered, trying – and failing – to suppress a giggle.

"What was that, Evans? Do you not appreciate my amazing talent for singing? Professor McGonagall remarked after the ball that I was well on my way to becoming a fully-fledged wizarding soprano, if only I learnt to sing Ave Maria instead of Muggle tunes," Sirius boasted.

"Er, Padfoot?"

"Yes Prongs?"

"That's what you said to McGonagall."

"Oh, yeah, it was, wasn't it?"

James nodded.

I laughed. "Are you a big follower of Muggle rock music, then, Sirius?"

"Of course. Have you not heard the music by Lizzie's band? They are practically rock royalty!" he said, patting Lizzie on the shoulder adoringly.

"My band?" she said quizzically.

"Thin Lizzy!" he quipped. I had heard of Thin Lizzy – and also one of Sirius' many renditions of their songs. He had sounded like a cat being strangled.

The only one who laughed at that was Peter, who had a mouthful of pumpkin juice at the time and ended up choking. Remus, who was sat next to him, patiently patted him on the back until he stopped. This was a source of amusement for Sirius and James who found Peter's choking very funny – for some strange, twisted reason.

"Very funny," Lizzie smiled.

"I'd better go, I need to collect my History of Magic stuff," I said, and left the table.

There was no way I was looking forward to my exams.

*

July bought on an unusually hot summer – exams were finally over, and we could almost relax for a week before we boarded the Hogwarts Express. We had decided to bask in the beautiful warm air outside by the lake. We were leaning up against the rock that we usually sat on, eyes closed, and the air tranquil and calm.

Usually, at these moments of immense peacefulness, it was up to the Marauders to come along and disrupt the quiet – usually with Sirius caterwauling a song. But Sirius and James had decided they hadn't yet fulfilled their prank quota for the year and had gone off to correct that. Unfortunately, Severus would be the subject of a lot of these pranks.

I hadn't really spoken to Severus recently. He had been frosty with me ever since we first boarded the Hogwarts Express in first year, and he now had a close-knit circle of friends that were undoubtedly zealous followers of Voldemort. Death Eaters in training. It shocked me to think how Severus would end up – but he would choose.

And this year, I had a summer, at the beach, with my friends, to look forward too. Rhiannon, Lizzie, James, Sirius and Remus had all got the okay from their parents so it did look like it was going to be perfect.

_

* * *

_

So, do you want to know what happens in Cornwall with the Marauders (minus Peter) and Lily, Lizzie and Rhiannon? Please review! I'd love to get up to 50 reviews, but as this is quite a short chapter, but still... hint, hint... ;) thank you ever so much for reading, and please check out my other stories on my profile!!!

_I hope, whatever you're doing, you have a lovely weekend!_

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	14. Summer Loving

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: Sorry I didn't update earlier I went Christmas shopping :) and I had lots of emails from fanfiction when I got back so thank you!! Thanks to Rider Arya Svit-kona, Sam-EvansBlue, sarlovesoccer, magic-pearl and Tabithatibi (I hope you have a lovely time in Cornwall :D) for reviewing; thank you to Starr22, Sam-EvansBlue, PhoenixAtBreakingDawn, Elizzabizz2008 and young-heart123 for adding my story to their alerts; thanks to Starr22, Sam-EvansBlue, Elizzabizz2008 and AryaandEragon for adding my story as a favourite story and thanks to magic-pearl for adding me to her author alerts! I really hope you all enjoy this chapter and it fulfils your expectations! Please read and review.

* * *

**_Chapter Thirteen_**

**SUMMER LOVING**

The crisp, clear sea air was refreshing; it was a sunny and bright morning in Cornwall. Lizzie, Rhiannon and I got out of my mum's car, suitcases in tow, and faced the beautiful holiday cottage we would be spending the next fortnight in. It was heavenly: it was made of grey stone, with a thatched roof, and had pink flowers around the door. It was a very big cottage, and I presumed from outside that there would be no problems with fitting the boys in as well.

"Lily, Rhiannon, Lizzie? Do you want to come inside?" my dad asked. We nodded, and pulled our suitcases along towards the door.

Inside, the house was just as quaint and as pretty as it was outside. Bits of furniture had been fashioned out of driftwood, and there were vases of yellow, white and pink flowers in virtually every window sill. Paintings of sea views had been hung on the walls.

We went upstairs to find the bedrooms. The staircase went up the middle of the house – and there were two big bedrooms on either side, with three beds in each. My mum and dad had a separate bedroom in the attic.

We quickly claimed the pink and lilac flowery bedroom for our own – it was lovely, with three beds across one wall, each with a set of drawers, and a large closet in another wall. The wall opposite the beds had a really long window looking out to the sea, and had cushions on the large window sills.

"Looks like I'm in holiday heaven!" Lizzie said, swooning onto the bed.

"_Lily_!" I could hear my mum calling up the stairs. I bounded down them to see her.

"We're just going into town for the evening – we'll do some shopping, and cook some tea when we get back, okay? Will you be alright – what time are the boys getting here?" she asked.

"About four, James said," I replied. I glanced at my turquoise watch – it was half two.

"We'll be back around sixish, okay? Go down to the beach if you want. The owner gave us two keys, so you can have one. Keep it safe, mind! Keep out of trouble," she cautioned, then smiled. She hugged me, and then they left.

"Guys!" I yelled, "want to go to the beach?"

"Of course!" Lizzie yelled back. I ran back upstairs, got into my beach gear: one of my ten swimming costumes I had bought (I love swimming, after all!), and over the top, I threw a white t-shirt and blue knee-length jean shorts, and shoved my feet into my brown sandals.

Once we were all ready, I locked up and we headed down to the beach with towels under our arms. This was like a whole different world compared to Hogwarts.

Walking through the trees, the sunlight was glinting through the dense woodland, the path was clear and it was so peaceful. Cornwall was going to get a shock when the Marauders turned up! I smiled to myself.

"What's so funny, Lily?" Rhiannon asked, intrigued.

"Nothing. Just enjoying the view," I grinned.

The woodland opened out onto a pebbled path next to the base of the cliffs, leading onto the stunning sunny, sandy beach.

"Come on, let's race to the sea!" I cried, and we raced to the sea. As we ran, we threw out outer clothes off and left our towels on the sand as we ran in the water wearing our swimming costumes. Mine was a red bikini with white polka dots – clashing slightly with my red hair, but I liked it all the same.

"I was first!" Lizzie shouted, splashing both me and Rhiannon with water.

"You wish, Lizzie!" I bellowed back. We had the entire beach to ourselves. Not for long though – the boys would be here soon. I took a glimpse of my watch again. Quarter to four.

"Girls, should we head back, meet the boys?" I suggested. They nodded. We pulled on our clothes over our swimsuits, pushed our wet hair back and grabbed our towels, and raced each other back to the cottage. This I undoubtedly won.

We let ourselves in the house, and freshened up slightly. We knew we'd be heading back down to the beach, but we combed our wet hair and checked that we looked okay. At four on the dot, the doorbell rang.

"That'll be them!"

We ran down the stairs and opened the door. The three boys were standing there with suitcases, with a tall man with scruffy black hair, hazel eyes and glasses, who I presumed to be James' dad.

"Hi!" I greeted them enthusiastically.

"You must be Lily, Lizzie and Rhiannon," Mr Potter said nicely.

"Yes, would you like to come in? My parents have gone into town to get some food, but we've got some things for tea and coffee?" I offered. The boys came in, but Mr Potter remained in the porch.

"Don't worry, Lily, I'll go. Send me an owl if you need anything," he smiled. "Have a good time!" He left.

We led Sirius, James and Remus upstairs to the room on the opposite side of the stairs to ours. They dropped their stuff on their beds – and Sirius got out some posters of his Muggle rock bands and stuck them on the wall. I laughed at his rapidness to customize their room.

"Do you wanna go down to the beach, it's lovely!" I asked.

"Of course! COS EVERYBODY'S GONE SURFIN', SURFIN' USA!" Sirius sang. He was obviously excited!

They changed, and we all headed to the beach.

We were just getting to the woodland, when James suddenly ran up behind me, and picked me up.

"James Potter, what are you doing?!" I squealed excitedly, as he carried me towards the beach.

"Carrying you, of course, silly!" he grinned. His hazel eyes glinted in the sunlight streaming in through the trees.

He carried on carrying me – I wasn't objecting! – until we reached the beach. We stopped, and we put down our towels and took our shorts and t-shirts off so we were in our swimsuits once more. Then, he grabbed me again, turned back to the guys, and yelled, "Last one in the sea is a Flobberworm!"

I held onto him tightly as he sprinted towards the ocean. He was grinning – he had taken his glasses off, and his black hair was messier than ever, and his hazel eyes were once again sparkling in the shimmering sunlight. They reflected the sea – they were the most entrancing eyes I had ever come across.

He clocked me staring, and I quickly averted my eyes.

"We _so_got here first! Padfoot, you're a Flobberworm!" James yelled, still holding onto me.

Sirius smiled – he had run slow motion from the pebbled path and had evidently got into the water last. He made up for this by splashing James and me with a substantially large amount of water.

"OI, PADFOOT!" James roared, "I'LL GET YOU FOR THAT!"

Sirius ran off along the waves, and James still had me clutching his neck as he followed him at an alarmingly quick pace.

I guessed this would be how most days of the next two weeks would pass – it would be magical if it was.

"Hey, Lily?" James said.

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind if I put you down? We can go underwater and grab Sirius' legs!" he said wickedly.

"Okay!"

He put me down, and we got underneath the water. We were swimming side by side until we came to Sirius' legs – he'd stopped, mystified at where his pursuers had got to.

"!"

Sirius screamed as we dragged him underneath the water – he was so melodramatic! James was splashing him in the face as he resurfaced.

"PRONGS! You ruined my hair!" he cried.

"Sirius, you're more obsessed about your hair than Eden!" I laughed.

"But it looks so pretty normally," he said in a girly voice. "But to be fair, I do like being UNDER THE SEA!"

"Well get used to it!" Remus said. He, Rhiannon and Lizzie had caught up with us.

"Thanks for inviting us Lily," James said. He smiled his gorgeous, irresistible smile. Yes, I had definitely fallen hard for him. There was no use pretending to myself anymore.

"'S okay!"

*

"There is no way you'll be able to use one of those," Lizzie said, looking at Sirius incredulously. We had gone into the local town, and whilst we were sitting outside a cafe, sipping lemonade (which James had managed to get to spray out of his nose), when Sirius had spotted a beach shop across the High Street. Outside, leaning against the shop window, were three surfboards. One was blue, one was pink, and one was yellow. Sirius had picked up the pink board and had stood on it in the middle of the street.

"Yeah I can, I am _so_ buying this!" he yelled across to us.

"I'd like to see him on the waves!" James said in my ear.

"PRONGS! MOONY! You should buy the other ones! We will be champion surfers, just like I am a champion soprano!" he bellowed.

We were getting very strange looks, but Sirius purchased the board anyway, as did James and Remus.

I dreaded to think what their surfing skills would be like, but Sirius promised to give us a show later.

We carried on walking down the High Street (whilst the Marauders tried not to knock anyone over with their surfboards) and when Rhiannon, Lizzie and I went into a clothes shop they went into the neighbouring music shop. No doubt Sirius would buy one of his rock CDs. He had also insinuated that he had bought some kind of stereo or music player with him. This worried me greatly.

"Do you know, I really feel like buying a new dress," Lizzie said, skimming her eyes over the racks in the shop. Bright rainbow colours filled the shop. "I haven't bought one since the dress for the Masquerade Ball! And I didn't even get to wear it," she said, smiling at me. We still hadn't forgotten our excursion with the Polyjuice potion.

"Maybe one to impress a certain _Marauder_?" I said, eyebrows raised.

"Why, Lily Evans, how could you say such a thing?" she giggled.

"Quite easily," I retorted. I picked up a pretty cream shirt dress with green flowers patterned across it – I did really like it. Lizzie had a grey strappy sundress in her hand, with a purple belt around the waist.

"Perfect," she said. Rhiannon found a sleeveless red dress with buttons down the middle, which she also proclaimed to be faultless. We bought our dresses, and carried our shopping bags outside to meet the boys. They soon emerged out of the music shop, surfboards in tow, but Remus lingered behind them, talking to a tall blonde boy. They saw us, and came over.

"Rhiannon, look who we found in the record shop!" Sirius whispered. Rhiannon craned her neck to look over Sirius' extremely tall shoulder – and saw...

"_JASPER!_"

Rhiannon dropped her shopping bag, which Lizzie automatically picked up for her, and threw her arms around her Ravenclaw boyfriend. They then celebrated with a very public display of affection, which we all looked away from.

"So, buy any music?" I asked James.

"Sirius did – he bought about six records!" James laughed, holding his banana yellow surfboard securely under his arm. "Buy anything nice in the clothes shop?"

"A dress," I answered coyly.

"Nice. So, wanna come on my surfboard later?" he asked flirtatiously.

"Me? A surfboard? You must be kidding!"

"Oh come on Lily, you know you want to! You'll get to hold onto me..." he said suggestively, batting his eyelashes.

"Maybe," I smiled.

Rhiannon and Jasper soon let go of each other, and we decided to walk back to the cottage. Lizzie and Sirius walked in front, and me, James and Remus walked in a three in the middle. Rhiannon and Jasper were holding hands behind us – apparently his house was this way too.

"Shall we go straight down to the beach when we get back?" I proposed.

"Yeah, why not?" James replied willingly.

"I need to test my surfboard out," Remus drifted off apprehensively, "Merlin knows why I let Sirius coerce me into buying it..."

"It'll be fun!" James exclaimed, looking at his own yellow surfboard. Remus had bought the blue one, and Sirius, the in order to reflect his true masculinity, had bought the luminous pink one.

"_Hey Lily_!" Rhiannon called. I dragged behind, to join her and Jasper. "Guess what? You know the holiday cottage we're staying at? Well it belongs to Jasper's parents, and he lives just over the forest! How cool is that? He can come down the beach and stuff with us, right?"

"Of course," I smiled at Jasper. It was nice for Rhiannon to have him here – she was head over heels!

I caught up with James and Remus – we were nearly back now.

When we got back to the cottage, the boys stood their surfboards up against the outside of the house, and we all went in to get ready for the beach. Jasper promised that he'd be back to walk down with us in twenty minutes.

When we were in our room, I changed into another one of my swimsuits. This time it was an emerald green halter-neck bikini. Over the top I threw a plain white sundress I'd bought with me, and slipped my feet into my yellow flip flops. I brushed my hair, and put my brown sunglasses on. I grabbed a towel out of my drawer, and put it into my oversized beach bag.

When Lizzie and Rhiannon were ready – Lizzie in navy shorts and a cute red checked shirt, with a red one-piece on underneath, and Rhiannon in a blue t-shirt dress over a sunny yellow bikini; she'd also put on a little bit of lipstick, obviously to impress Jasper – I heard Sirius shout.

"Oi, girls, are you ready? You're taking ages!"

"Yep, we are," Lizzie called back. We grabbed our beach bags and glasses, and headed outside to meet the boys.

The group split up into its little sub-groups again; Sirius and Lizzie in front, Sirius carrying his pink surfboard, me, James and Remus in the middle, and Rhiannon and Jasper at the back. It seemed like hardly any time at all before we were at the beach. I took my dress and my flip flops off, and put my towel out on the ground. Today, instead of rushing straight into the sea, I lay on my towel, sunbathing. It was so peaceful, even with the shouts of the others in the background, I fell asleep.

*

I opened my eyes. I still had my sunglasses on – everything looked slightly dim. I tried to glance at my watch, but I couldn't lift my arm. My whole body felt stiff, like I couldn't move. I was still in a groggy state, but I couldn't hear any shouts. Had they left me behind?

Now I was wide awake, and I looked around to see why I couldn't life my arm. Answer?

The others had buried me in six inches of sand, leaving my face and hair free.

I sat up forcefully. This made the sand fall off me. I heard giggles from behind me. I turned – the others were watching me from behind a rock. Pretending I hadn't noticed them, I got up, brushed myself down, and walked into the ocean. I cupped my hands and let the water rush into them – I heard footsteps behind me... and I turned around and threw the water at the person coming up to surprise me. It was James!

"LILY!" he cried, "right, for that, you _have _to come on my surfboard!"

"NOOOO!" I screamed, as he picked me up, and carried me over to his yellow surfboard. He placed me on it, but slackened his grip slightly when he began pulling the board towards the ocean. I tried to escape – but he made a grab for my waist and managed to keep me there.

"Come on, Lily, hold onto me!" he cried, jumping up on the board as a wave came in. I knelt up, and grabbed his leg, clinging on for dear life. I shut my eyes tightly, and heard him laughing.

"Look Lily, we survived!" he told me. I opened my eyes, and saw that we were indeed still on the beach, not dead and in the sea.

"Still didn't like it!" I told him.

"Want to go for a walk?" he asked, "across the cliffs?"

"Go on then," I replied. I put my dress back on over my bikini, and left my beach bag, towel and sunglasses on the beach as me and James headed towards the path up to the cliffs.

It was a steep climb, but James held my hand up the really steep bits. Not long later, we were both standing on the top of the cliffs, looking down on the beach. I could see Jasper and Rhiannon once more kissing each other on the sand, and Remus, Sirius and Lizzie splashing each other in the sea.

"The beach is so beautiful, isn't it?" I asked James.

"Not as beautiful as you, Lily," he replied.

"What?" I said softly, turning to look deep into his hazel eyes. It was like I was swimming in them...

But unfortunately, James lost the romantic thread by tripping over a rock and falling on the floor.

"Careful!" I scolded, and helped him up. I noticed he had a big bruise on his shin.

"Gosh, James, how did you do that?" I asked, concerned.

"The surfboard," he grinned. "Why don't you surf by yourself tomorrow Lily?"

"You ask me to surf by myself, after you tell me you sustained an injury?" I laughed.

"Take a chance, Lily. It'll work," he said.

"Take a chance?" I repeated. "Okay then."

And I kissed James Potter.

_

* * *

_

I'm really hoping you liked that... and that it happened the way you wanted it to! Please, please, PLEASE review and let me know your thoughts and to get the next chapter, which involves the arrival of a new character and the beginning of a new school year... Have a lovely weekend and please review!

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	15. A New Face

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: Thank you so much for the reviews and responses to the last chapter - there are simply too many to list here so I would like to dedicate this chapter, and the rest of the story, to everyone who has taken the time to review my story, add it to their favourites or alerts and added me as a favourite author and to their author alerts. It means a lot and I really appreciate it - I'm utterly overwhelmed by the response and really grateful :) please keep on reviewing and letting me know your thoughts! Also... 12 days till Christmas! How excited is everybody????????

Also, if you like Sirius Black and OC stories, I've started to post one which is my favourite story that I have ever written (I put my heart and soul into it!) called **You Leave Me Breathless **so if you have the time please check it out and leave a review. Thank you - enjoy this chapter! I'm sorry I haven't posted all day, I meant to post it this morning but my internet stopped working twice whilst I was editing it so I gave up and decided to wait till now, so thank you for your patience!

* * *

**_Chapter Fourteen_**

**A NEW FACE**

I couldn't wait for the car ride to finish, and for us to be at Kings Cross Station. I had only parted with my friends a day beforehand, but it felt like ages. My dad was trying to find a parking space, whilst I fidgeted in the passenger seat.

"Lily, calm down!" Dad said, quite amused at me.

"Sorry, I can't wait to see everyone!" I cried.

"You only saw them yesterday!" Dad smiled.

"I know, but, after spending two weeks with them, non-stop, I miss them – even Sirius," I replied.

The car came to a halt, and I jumped out of it, grabbing my suitcase and my owl out of the back of the car. Dad helped me push it into the station, as we walked along to find the barrier to Platform 9¾.

"Take care of yourself, Lily," he hugged me by the barrier. It was half past ten.

"I will do," I smiled, "and you too."

He left, and I rushed through the barrier. On the other side, was the magnificent scarlet train ready to take us all back to school. Not many other people were there, so I decided to get us a compartment – I put my trunk down, and shut the door to the compartment so people would know that it was ours – for Eden, Rhiannon, Lizzie, James, Sirius, Remus, Jasper, Peter and I. It would be a bit of a squeeze, but they were my friends – you don't get claustrophobic with friends! Except maybe Peter, but he's not so bad.

"LILY!"

Eden ran towards me, and squeezed me so tight I thought I might suffocate!

"Eden! Oh I've missed you, how was skiing?" I asked. Eden smiled bashfully.

"It was actually amazing ... there was this really good-looking boy from Australia called Joe, he's in my holiday pictures, I'll show them you on the train ... unfortunately, he had to go back to Sydney or wherever it was that he lived. He promised to write, though. I gave him my parents address – they'll forward them by owl. He was a muggle," she filled me in, reddening.

"Lovely!" I beamed.

"And, I heard about you and a certain Marauder ... apparently you couldn't be prised apart for hours on top of a cliff..." Eden smirked.

"Hours!" I said, "what an exaggeration!"

"So it's true? You and James Potter?"

I nodded.

"EDEN! LILY!" Rhiannon and Lizzie came rushing towards us, and we had a massive group hug. Suddenly, there were two pairs of arms squeezing us even tighter – belonging to two very tall boys...

"James!" I cried, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, standing on my tiptoes so I could reach. Although I was reasonably tall, he was bordering on gigantic!

"Oh come on Prongs, you had her face practically glued to yours all week, you can do slightly better than that!" I heard Sirius comment.

James kissed me lightly on the lips, not engaging in a proper kiss whilst so many parents and students were looking.

"Hey, who's she?" Peter suddenly asked.

Everybody turned round to look at where Peter was staring. A girl, of our age, had just come through the barrier, pushing her trunk and carrying a fluffy grey cat. She was definitely a new student, and had waist-length poker straight blonde hair – it wasn't Lizzie's pale blonde colour, it was more of a sunny, golden hue. She had large, enchanting grey eyes framed by long, dark eyelashes. She was quite tall, and very slim, with a tiny waist and a large chest. The mystery girl was wearing very stylish clothes – a silvery long-sleeved jumper dress with black opaque tights and high-heeled Mary Jane shoes.

"Who is that?" Sirius wolf-whistled, with a look of annoyance from Lizzie. We had established that they liked each other – but neither of them seemed to want to do anything about it.

"Never seen her before," Remus remarked, looking vaguely interested – but his eyes sparkled when the girl looked at him and smiled.

"Maybe I should go and introduce myself..." Sirius grinned, raising his eyebrows suggestively. Peter, not catching on to the innuendo of Sirius' remark, continued:

"Yes, well she does look a bit lonely. She probably doesn't know anyone," which received hopeless looks from the rest of us.

"Moony, wanna come over and talk to her? Maybe she could squeeze into our compartment..." Sirius added.

"Not all of us are going to fit into our compartment! If Jasper comes and joins Rhiannon–"

"Which he will," Rhiannon inserted, smiling cheekily.

"–that means there will be nine of us! So unless you've perfected a people-shrinking spell..." I drifted off.

"We'll just stick Peter on the luggage rack," Sirius quipped.

"Hey!"

"Sorry, Wormy, needs must! Moony, are you coming?" Remus nodded, and he and Sirius went off to meet the new girl.

The girl looked pleasantly surprised to see that two boys were already coming up to introduce themselves to her. I smiled – it wasn't exactly as if she would repel boys with those looks. Whilst she was talking to Remus, Sirius turned and mouthed, "She's French!" to James.

James grinned. "Oi, you," I hit him playfully. "I don't want you going off with French girls!"

"So you think I'm attractive enough to go off with a French girl?" he smirked.

"You wish," I muttered, and he pulled me into a tight embrace.

Soon, Sirius and Remus came over with the French girl.

"Everyone, this is Rebecca," Sirius introduced her.

"Hi Rebecca," I said nicely. She beamed at me.

"Thank you, zis is all very kind of you, Sirius and Remus 'ave invited me to sit in your compartment togezzer," she said in her continental accent.

I rolled my eyes at Sirius, who mouthed, "What?"

"Would you like me to introduce everybody?" Remus asked.

"_Oui_, er, sorry, yes," she replied, a little flustered.

"This is James, Lily, his girlfriend, Lily's friends Rhiannon, Eden and Lizzie, and Peter. Oh, and this boy with the blonde hair coming? He's Rhiannon's boyfriend Jasper," Remus told her kindly.

"Thank you, I am very pleased to, how do you say, meet wiz you all, my Engleesh is not quite perfect yet, I am sorry," Rebecca replied.

We all got onto the Hogwarts Express, and found our reserved compartment. It was definitely a tight squeeze, and Rhiannon and I had to sit on our boyfriends' laps, but we managed to get everybody in. Sirius looked pretty pleased – Rebecca had sat herself in between Remus and him, but on Sirius' other side sat Lizzie, looking very unimpressed and stony faced.

It turned out that Rebecca had been educated at Beauxbatons, the French magic school for girls, but had relocated to Hogwarts due to her family moving from Paris to London for her parents' work. She also said that she had been told she had to undergo the Sorting Ceremony with the first years – a process she wasn't looking forward to!

Rebecca Villade (her last name) was a very pleasant girl, and I dearly hoped she was in Gryffindor, but I don't think Lizzie did. She was silent for the whole journey, whilst Sirius joked and subtly flirted with Rebecca. She didn't seem very interested in Sirius, however, and more interested in the book Remus was reading. She kept smiling at James too, which surprised us.

It was quite comfortable on James' lap. Rhiannon and Jasper were engaged in yet another public display of affection – this time they were knitted so closely together that you couldn't tell whose arms were which. James held me tightly, and I leant on his shoulder. Eventually, I fell asleep, listening to James' heartbeat.

*

Rebecca had to go off with Hagrid and the nervous first years, whilst we took the carriages up to the castle. When she'd gone, Sirius commented, "Well, she's a nice girl, isn't she?" to which Lizzie scowled. Sirius saw her frown, and whispered to James, "What did I do?"

James just raised an eyebrow in response.

"What? It's not like we're married, or even going out!" Sirius muttered, but he looked undoubtedly crestfallen at the fact that Lizzie was irritated by him.

Everyone was soon in the Great Hall, and the first years, plus Rebecca, who stood out a mile due to her golden hair and height, anxiously wandered in. Rebecca sparked a lot of whispering and conversation as she walked towards the front. Due to her last name, she was the last person called to the hat.

"Villade, Rebecca!"

Rebecca walked slowly up to the hat, very uncertainly. She reminded me of when Sirius went up to the Sorting Hat, after both his relatives were sorted into Gryffindor.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table cheered, Lizzie forced a smile and a clap, and Rebecca hurried to join us at the Gryffindor table. She squeezed in between Remus and Lizzie, who was sat next to Sirius. She was ignoring him.

_

* * *

_

So, Rebecca finally makes an appearance! Please review to find out what happens next chapter - which involves much serenading, humour and realisation within the Marauders!

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	16. And They Call It Puppy Love

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: Thank you so much for all the reviews, story favourites, story alerts, author favourites and author alerts. It means so much to me and there are literally too many people to thank so I would like to say a massive thank you to all of you and please continue to read and review! I also have a new Sirius Black & OC story called **You Leave Me Breathless **which involves quite a bit of Lily and James, please check it out! Hope you like this chapter, there is a bit of a point-of-view switch from Lily to the Marauders (except Peter, as he is horrible and a betrayer). Enjoy!!!

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen**

**"AND THEY CALL IT PUPPY LOVE!"**

_

* * *

_

James Potter

* * *

Padfoot was lying on his bed, bored out of his skull. Remus was reading a book, and Peter was sound asleep. I was reminiscing a lovely half hour me and Lily had spent together in the common room after dinner – whilst Sirius tried to attract the "sexy French girl", as he called her, and failed. She was more interested in Remus, and his book. I don't think Remus quite knows how to take any attention from girls. He's not like Sirius, who's snogged most of the girls in our year (except my Lily, of course, oh and Rhiannon and Eden) – apart from Lizzie, the one girl he wants to snog except won't admit it because she's not easy like the rest – and been out briefly with half of them. And I don't think he has loved one of the girls since first year, like me with Lily.

"Prongs, I'm bored," Sirius said monotonously.

"I know, what am I supposed to do about it?" I responded.

"Think of something for us to do, a prank to pull?" he pleaded.

"We haven't heard you sing lately," Remus remarked, smirking.

"Hmmmn, well, I don't believe my singing talent is appreciated anymore," Sirius replied.

"Of course it is, mate. Lizzie loved your rendition of 'I'm Too Sexy' in fourth year, and 'Tie Your Mother Down', maybe you should sing to her again?" I suggested.

"Why would _I _want to sing to _Lizzie_?" Sirius retorted.

"Oh come on, Padfoot, we know you like her," Remus said exasperatedly.

"And that, Moony, is where you are wrong," Padfoot said.

"No, I'm right, actually, I think you'll find. It's pretty obvious that she likes you too – after the way she gave you the cold-shoulder when you were flirting with Rebecca," Moony told him deprecatingly.

"Aah, _la belle _French girl! I wonder if she's practiced in the art of French Kissing?" he said excitedly, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"You are disgusting," Remus said, "why can't you admit you like Lizzie? What is so wrong about her that you can't say 'I like Lizzie Armstrong'?"

"Well, I, er, don't fancy her!" Sirius spluttered.

"Is it because she's not easy and throwing herself at your feet like every other girl in this school? Because believe me Padfoot, she's worth more than that, she's not one of those girls you can go off with in Filch's cleaning cupboard, or an empty classroom – and I think you know that and you're not prepared for a challenge or commitment."

"How do you know all this, Moony?" I asked.

"I am very observant."

"Do you know what, Padfoot? Maybe we should serenade our favourite Gryffindor girls at midnight – practise that _celestial_ singing voice of yours..." I grinned at him.

"Of course, I'm sure the sexy French girl wants to hear me sing!"

"And by that, you mean Lizzie," Moony automatically said.

"Are you practised in the art of mind-reading or something?" Sirius bellowed without thinking – then clapped hand to his mouth.

"Sirius Black, you're so in love with Lizzie," I teased.

"James Potter, you're so in love with Lily," he retorted. Then he grinned, unabashed. "Cloak and map?"

"You got it!" I answered, grabbing my silvery, velvety cloak out of my trunk – my Invisibility Cloak.

Sirius went in his drawer, and after chucking out a load of stuff, picked up a piece of parchment. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," he said, tapping it with his wand.

The Marauder's Map began to unfold, and Sirius carefully studied the way to the Entrance Hall, where we'd go outside and sing to the top of the Gryffindor Tower.

"Come on, let's go, see ya Moony, you'll hear us in a bit," Sirius winked, and we left, with my Invisibility Cloak in tow.

Hardly anyone was in the common room, and they didn't notice it when we walked past. Sirius checked the map outside the portrait.

"Only Lily's in there now... what's the sexy French girl doing going into our dormitory – ooh Moony, you sly old dog..." Sirius smirked.

"Where's Rhiannon, Eden and Lizzie then?" I asked impatiently.

"Rhiannon's... Rhiannon's on the Room of Requirement corridor with Jasper..."

"We all know what they're doing..."

"Eden's walking towards the Ravenclaw tower – ooh, she must be meeting someone... and Lizzie's walking towards the Entrance Hall – come on Prongs, if we're quick, we'll catch her!" Padfoot said enthusiastically.

We put the invisibility cloak on, and raced off.

_

* * *

_

Sirius Black

* * *

We skidded down the corridor, heading towards the Entrance Hall. Prongs threw the cloak off, and we sat on the banisters, and raced down. It provided a little entertainment.

For some reason, Prongs felt it essential to the whole banister sliding thing to shout "Yee-hah!"

"Prongs, you idiot! It's nearly midnight!" I hissed.

"Padfoot? You're telling me _not_ to break the rules?" he laughed audaciously.

"I'm telling you not to get a detention before we get down there!" I retorted. We were silent for a minute, as we passed the third floor. "Oh damn it, I have to: Yee-hah!"

"Told you!" Prongs replied cockily.

We jumped off the end of the staircase, and slipped the cloak back on. I wanted to see what Lizzie was doing. She was obviously meeting someone – she was hovering behind a pillar in the Entrance Hall.

I don't even know what attracted me to Elizabeth Armstrong. Okay, she was blonde. But I had been out with plenty of blondes before, and they hadn't made me feel this way. I was almost scared to admit it – Sirius Black, attractive player, was actually almost in love with a girl. It was quite frightening actually. But Elizabeth Armstrong was different to any of the others. I had never troubled to get closer than a mere friendship with Lily (Prongs would stab me in my bed if I did, and Lily would probably castrate me) and Rhiannon and Eden were just friends; but Lizzie was easy to talk to, wasn't afraid of making a fool of herself and mucked in with the rest of us. She liked a laugh and a joke, and even though she was academic, reserved time for fun as well. As far as I know, she had never had a boyfriend. She was considered as one of the boys – she was very friendly with lots of people in our year. And we had always been good friends – even when I attempted to charm her robes so that they said, 'I love Snivellus forever'. Okay, maybe she didn't agree with our taunts to Snivellus, but she didn't make a fuss. She knew what the Slytherins were like.

I remembered the time we'd spent in Cornwall – me, her and Remus had been messing around in the water, and I was holding her ankles and holding her upside down so that her hair was getting soaked by the waves (nicely, of course!) when she noticed Lily and Prongs kissing on top of the cliff. And I remember her saying, "Thank Merlin!" and not even moaning at me when I put her on my surfboard and pushed her out to sea, and then swam underwater and flipped the board over. She just thought it was funny. Luckily.

"Oi, Padfoot, we're nearly there," Prongs whispered. We crept as silently as possible down the stairs. I saw Lizzie leaning against her pillar, looking cautiously about. Her blonde hair was tied back in a bun, and she was wearing a turquoise t-shirt and jeans. Over the top she had thrown a grey cardigan with black stars on it – a cardigan I recognised from the beach.

"Can we wait for a second, Prongs? I wanna see who she's meeting," I asked. Prongs nodded. We sat down on the steps. We didn't have to wait long for Lizzie's date to turn up. He ran down the steps that we were sitting on – we squished close to the banister so that he wouldn't trip over us.

"Padfoot? I know we're best friends but no need to be that close, mate," James whispered, grinning.

"Shut up."

I wanted a prime position for listening to Lizzie's conversation. I noticed who the boy was – it was a Ravenclaw boy, he was in quite a few of our classes, but I couldn't remember his name.

"Prongs, what's his name?"

"Er, isn't it Edward something? Edward King... no... Edward Kettle? No, definitely not... Edward Kennedy, Kennedy, that's it!" he replied.

He advanced towards Lizzie, who came out from behind her pillar.

"So, Edward, why did you want to meet me here?" Lizzie asked, looking at the floor.

"I like you, of course," Edward said, stepping in forward. Lizzie didn't look very comfortable.

"Okay..." she said quietly.

"What's the matter?" Edward asked. He was frowning at her.

"Nothing!" she replied quickly.

"You like Sirius Black, don't you?" Edward asked her accusingly. "I've seen the way you look at him, you so obviously do. Is there something going on between you two?" he sounded quite forceful.

"He's way out of order to Lizzie," I muttered.

"N-no, of course not," she stammered, blushing. Okay, she had some kind of attraction to Edward... there wasn't really anything remarkable about him, he was just a brainy, slightly good-looking boy who smiled a lot.

"Are you sure?"

"Look Edward, didn't you see him with Rebecca the French girl? She's a lovely girl, but he's flirting so bad with her. So he obviously can't like me, can he?" Lizzie retorted.

So wrong. So wrong, Lizzie! I think that may be the first time Elizabeth Armstrong had ever got something wrong.

"So... do you like me then?"

"I think I do, you know," she smiled.

"Would you go out with me then?" he asked, grinning his stupid grin at her. She glanced down, then glanced back up again.

"Yes," she replied, and they leaned in and kissed each other! And it wasn't a little peck, either, it was a full on snog!

"Padfoot, do you want to go?" James said. "We don't have to go through with the singing thing..."

"Are you kidding? If she thinks I like Rebecca Villade, then I might as well live up to expectations. After all, she is the sexy French girl," I forced a grin. I think Prongs saw straight through it – but he knew better than to say anything.

We slipped past Lizzie and her stupid new boyfriend and out of the door. It was pitch black outside; this inevitably made me trip over a stone, sending Prongs sprawling over the ground too.

"What did you do that for?" he whispered.

"In case you haven't noticed, Jamesie, it's bloody dark outside!" I retorted, springing back up. "Come on, we need to get to Gryffindor tower!"

James cast _Lumos _so we could see, and we sprinted round the outside of the castle to Gryffindor tower. Once we were stood at the bottom (and positively sure it was Gryffindor tower, after checking on the Marauder's map) we looked at each other for a second.

"What are we singing?" James asked. His eyes were lit up with the mischief. We kept the cloak on, so no-one would be able to see us if they looked out the window.

"Follow me – I'll start. _Sonorus_," I cast. I knew once I started my voice would boom for the whole castle to hear.

"AND THEY CALL IT PUPPY LOVE!" I bellowed – it was so loud lights started flickering on in all of the windows.

"OH I GUESS THEY'LL NEVER KNOW," James continued tunefully.

"Lily Evans and Rebecca Villade!" I yelled, then continued singing, "HOW A YOUNG HEART REALLY FEELS, AND JUST WHY I LOVE HER SO!"

James suddenly extinguished the _Sonorus_charm and whispered, "Padfoot, I can hear Filch. ACCIO BROOMSTICK!"

Suddenly, James' broomstick soared into his hand and we both clambered on, hearing Filch's wild footsteps approaching, accompanied by him yelling, "I know it's you! You can't run! I know it's you!"

"Yes we can, mate!" I yelled back. James expertly, due to his superb Seeker skills, flew the broom right through our open bedroom window to see a laughing Remus Lupin and a snoring Peter Pettigrew.

"Moony, does he sleep through everything?" James asked despairingly, looking at Peter. "Wormtail misses our excellent show!"

"It certainly was excellent – I suggest you get into bed quick before the teachers come to find you!" Remus whispered. I jumped into bed, fully clothed, and Remus extinguished the light.

"Do you think Lily will be impressed?" James asked in a small voice.

"Most definitely mate – as will Rebecca, I 'ope," I replied. "Hang on... Moony... what was the sexy French girl doing in our dorm, talking undoubtedly to you?"

Moony looked up – and for once he did not have his confident look of self assurance.

_

* * *

_

Remus Lupin

* * *

Sirius was grinning at me inanely – it was rather annoying. According to him, you can't even speak to a girl without snogging her face off – that's his first rule regarding the opposite sex, which he acquainted me with on our first day at dinner. Surprisingly, despite his reputation for being a player, the girls still went after him, playing into his hands. It was unbelievable.

"She came up to ask me if she could borrow the book I was reading when I had finished it," I replied truthfully. Rebecca had been very fascinated with my book on the train – it was about Transfiguration. She was very bright, and certainly more interested in academic subjects than succumbing to Sirius' charms.

"Couldn't she have just asked you at breakfast?" Sirius pointed out.

"I suppose, but she probably wanted to read it before she went to bed," I answered.

"I think you have an admirer, Moony!" Sirius said, clapping his hands with glee.

"I tell you Padfoot, you are worse than teenage girls!" I sighed.

"Yes, but most teenage girls do not sing like me," he said.

"It's probably a good thing," James sniggered.

"Do you actually like Rebecca – I thought you liked Lizzie?" I questioned him, observing his facial expressions as he sat cross-legged on the bed. His face dropped slightly, for a nanosecond, before he launched into his stupid grin again.

"Well she is, after all, a sexy French girl. Lizzie is absent of all charm of the continental girls..." Sirius said wickedly.

"You are so shallow."

"Am not! What happens if I liked Lizzie a few hours ago, went off her, and decided I liked Rebecca Villade instead? Come on Moony, rampant hormones here!" he said.

"You are actually disgusting," I replied. "You were going to sing for Lizzie – what happened?"

I was quite curious. It wasn't likely I'd get the answer out of him unless he blurted it out accidentally.

James looked a bit furtive – obviously he knew what was going on.

"Sirius Black, if you do _not_ tell me the sudden cause of this, then I am going to make James tell me," I declared.

"Yeah but he won't Moony."

"So you admit there's something to hide? If you don't tell me what it was, I will get out the Veritaserum, and you can then reveal _exactly _what you did with that fifth-year brunette girl in the broom-cupboard last year."

This made him look panic-stricken, and he began to flap his hands around overdramatically.

"Careful, Padfoot, you might take off!" James smirked.

"Okay, Moony, I will tell you. But you must swear upon pain of having a wand shoved up your nose that you will not tell anyone."

"Okay."

"Do you swear Moony? Having a wand shoved up your nose is definitely not pleasant..."

"Yes, I bloody swear! Just tell me the damn thing!"

"Alright then. We were walking towards the Entrance Hall, and I noticed on the map that Lizzie was in there, alone. When we got there, we were standing at the top of the stairs and she was hiding behind a pillar. I knew she must be meeting someone so we hid ourselves and waited for a bit, because she had to be back in the dorm room for me to sing to her, didn't she? And lo and behold, a young male turned up."

"Who?"

"I was just getting to that, don't be so impatient!"

"Sorry."

"It's alright Moony, I forgive you."

"Okay."

"Anyway, he went across the hall, towards her, and it was that Edward Kennedy from Ravenclaw. For some reason unknown reason, James thought his name was Edward Kettle," Sirius continued.

"I did not! It was my thinking process!" James said indignantly.

"And he told her he liked her, and she said 'Okay,' and he went, 'You like Sirius Black don't you? I've seen the way you look at him, you so obviously do.' And she said no – but she stammered it and she blushed! – and he asked her if she was sure, and she said that if I liked her then why was I flirting so bad with Rebecca the French girl? Then he asked her if she liked him, and she said she did, then they kissed. It was bloody torture – he went in for the kill and had a full on snog!"

In a way, I did feel sorry for Sirius. Okay, he was practically a male tart, but he had actually liked Lizzie for a while – not just had a passing fancy for her looks like he had with all those other girls. And he looked really cut up about it. But, on the other hand, Sirius should have done something about it sooner. Lizzie wasn't a troll, and it was patently palpable that someone would ask her – she was a sixteen-year-old, incredibly intellectual, pretty blonde girl for Merlin's sake! And Sirius couldn't take it for granted that Lizzie would hang around, waiting for him, whilst he made moves and flirted outrageously with other girls. I wasn't sure this was the best time to tell him this.

"Sirius, when did you last go out with someone?" I asked him patiently.

"July."

"How long for?"

"Couple of days."

"Who was it?"

"Now... what was her name? She's in the year below us, tall, dark haired girl with the bright eyes? Melanie something? No, Michaela? Michaela Donahue, I think her name is."

"Sirius... how many girls have you been out with?"

"Bloody hell, Moony, do you expect me to keep count when I am as irresistible as I am?" he said arrogantly.

"See? Lizzie's put up with you going out with endless girls when she's never been out with anyone. If you didn't ask her, someone else would. And now, it looks like someone else has. See how insanely jealous it's made you? Think how Lizzie felt when you were throwing yourself at Rebecca on the train?"

"Ah, but she's an exception, because–"

"She's a, as you so eloquently put it, 'sexy French girl'? That is no excuse Padfoot. Can you not take it seriously?"

Sirius looked at me incredulously, for once not speaking.

"Good night, Sirius," I said coolly, turning over and shutting my eyes.

I heard him lie back on his bed, and say quietly to James, "You know, I feel too disheartened to sing. See how Lizzie has destroyed me? Maybe I should cast a spell on Edward Kennedy – make him have insane acne? Or outrageously hairy?"

"Whatever you say, mate," Prongs replied sleepily.

_

* * *

_

Please review for the next chapter which involves some yuletide spirit and some slightly giddy goings-on at the Three Broomsticks! Thanks for reading,

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	17. Lost Inhibitions

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: This chapter is dedicated to everybody who reviewed, added my story to their favourites and alert subscriptions and added me to their alerts and to their favourite authors! I really appreciate and hope you like this chapter... there's a bit of drama...

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen**

**LOST INHIBITIONS**

As James and I exited the Hogwarts courtyard, we saw Hagrid dragging some very large Christmas trees into school to decorate the Great Hall. We held hands, and walked out into the grounds together. As it was only a day from the beginning of the Christmas holidays, work was starting to relax a bit and we were ready for a well-earned break. Of course, the Marauders (minus Peter) were stopping for Christmas and all of the girls were stopping, including Rebecca, and Eden, who had opted out of her family's holiday to New York. Jasper was also staying, but Lizzie's boyfriend Edward was not staying, but promised to write regularly to her. They seemed very happy together – Sirius didn't seem happy about it. Actually, many suspicious circumstances had arisen surrounding Edward Kennedy when Sirius had been near. I meant to question James about it, but the silence was blissful and once we were out of view of the castle, and by a sheltered tree beside the lake, we kissed.

I don't know how long we stayed there for, but soon, we were sat on the ground, holding hands, leaning against the tree. In summer, this was the Marauders favourite place to sit. It felt quite special to me to be sitting here.

Looking back up towards the castle, I noticed a solitary figure exit the building and walk towards the gardens by the greenhouses. His shoulder-length curly dark hair was unmistakable – it was Sirius. Sirius was becoming slightly quieter, and less flirtatious. Although I was sick of his endless jokes and mindless flirting, it was like he was ill or something. I had never seen him like this. Whenever I asked him what was wrong, he just said, "Lily, I'm fine."

I decided now I really had to ask James what was going on.

"I see Sirius is going off by himself again," I said to him.

"He's doing it more and more. I'm really worrying about him – Michaela Donahue was literally throwing herself at him at lunch the other day, and he resisted snogging her face off and also asked her if she could leave him alone!" James replied, sounding surprised.

"That really does not sound like him," I observed. "Is it to do with Lizzie and Edward Kennedy?"

"I think he's lovesick – but then again, he's bought it on himself. I think he's seen the error of his ways slightly, he was always cavorting about with any girl he wanted, and Lizzie was always absent of a boyfriend. But now she has one, he doesn't like it."

"Is he to do with why Edward came out of Transfiguration last week with abominable acne?"

"Er..."

"Yes?"

"I think so. He's really cut up about it, though. I don't like it. I know he was slightly disrespectful towards women, but I really think that he needs to get a girlfriend, or at least have a bit of a fling, to liven himself up a bit."

"James..."

"What? It's his way, Lily! He has not sung for weeks!"

"That's a good thing, his voice is terrible."

"Lily, you know what I mean. He really needs to sort himself out. He has girls queuing up for him, but the girl he actually likes is taken by someone else."

"Who happens to be just as good looking as Sirius, just not as loud and noticeable?"

"Oi, you, looking at other blokes," James scolded playfully.

We leant in for another kiss.

*

"Bye, Wormtail!" Remus called, as Peter wandered off down to Hogsmeade station with the other students going home for Christmas. Unfortunately, pupils from other years were stopping behind this year as well, so it wouldn't just be the Gryffindor sixth years, minus Peter. A few tiny first years would be staying, so it meant we couldn't be rowdy in the common room (such as Sirius), sing loudly (Sirius) or have another famous karaoke competition.

Sirius was still moping around, but had brightened up considerably when Lizzie told him Edward was going away for Christmas – I don't know what he was thinking, because there was no way Lizzie would cheat on Edward. I know she liked Sirius, but she liked Edward too, and Sirius couldn't change that – no matter how many times he cast unsightly spells on Edward.

"You know what, why don't we celebrate Christmas properly?" Sirius suggested as we walked back to the common room.

"What do you mean?" Lizzie asked.

"Dress up, sneak down into Hogsmeade, buy some sweets, and go for a Butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks..." Sirius drifted off.

"That sounds like a plan," James said, with his arm around me.

"Just one thing... how the hell are we supposed to get down to Hogsmeade?" Rhiannon asked, her fingers entwined with Jasper's.

"We have ways," Sirius said darkly. He glanced at the clock. "Be back here in an hour – Jasper mate, we'll meet you outside the portrait. Bring your money!"

"I don't like the sound of this..." Lizzie murmured in my ear. "Can't he just play safe and sing to us? I rather enjoyed 'All I Want For Christmas Is You'!"

I laughed.

We got into our room, and suddenly had a mental block on what to wear. Sirius had said dress up – did that mean full on dresses or just to put our normal clothes on?

"I don't care, I'm wearing a dress!" Lizzie said, picking her new dress she had bought in Hogsmeade the last time we went in – a knee-length dress, with a full white skirt, a glittery gold waistband and a tight midnight blue velvet bodice, with thick straps adorned with gold gems. It was really pretty. She put on some opaque grey tights, and slipped her feet into her black leather boots. Over the top she threw her long black coat, and fluffed her hair up, applying some lip gloss. She looked really good.

I followed suit and put on a dress – a deep grey jumper dress, which I accessorized with black tights and purple flat ballet pumps. I belted it in at the waist with a plain leather belt of Lizzie's – and although it was quite a dark outfit, it contrasted well with my fiery hair, which I twisted up into a bun, pulling a few strands out at the front so it wasn't really neat. I left my face makeup free, thinking the bitter cold would brighten up my pale complexion with rosy cheeks.

"Does this look okay?" Eden asked. She had gone against the dress idea, putting on some dark blue jeans, but on top she had put on a red floaty beaded top and a black blazer jacket.

"Definitely. Now... the purple or the blue?" Rhiannon said, holding up a long-sleeved purple dress and a strappy blue one.

"Purple," Eden replied. Rhiannon quickly jumped into the dress, put on some tights – like anybody who'd want to be warm in this cold weather – and some flat boots. Over the top, she put her grey coat.

Rebecca looked really nice too, throwing on a pale blue flowery skirt, black tights, a turquoise jumper and a dark blue scarf, with a long navy coat, and flat black ballet pumps.

"Nearly time?" Lizzie asked, picking up her big brown shoulder bag.

"Yeah, we'd better go, otherwise the boys'll be mad at us for taking too much time!" I laughed.

"Zey take too little time. 'Tis zeir bad habeet, not ours!" Rebecca smiled. We walked down the stairs. The first years weren't in there, so we were safe. We exited via the portrait hole, and met the boys on the other side.

My hand immediately met James', and he squeezed mine. I smiled at him.

Rhiannon found Jasper, and held onto him tightly. They made the perfect couple – they looked so good together.

Rebecca stood next to Remus, Eden joined them, and Sirius stared longingly at Lizzie, who was oblivious to this.

Suddenly, he snapped out of it, and lead us through the corridors, heading towards the corridor with the one-eyed witch statue on it. He had some kind of map in his hands. We were just around the corner from our destination, when Sirius suddenly stopped.

"_Snivellus_!" he whispered. I didn't like his nickname for Severus, but then I had to say I didn't like Severus anymore. He had grown into someone I couldn't identify with anymore, someone I had nothing in common with. But I couldn't ponder this fact – James had pulled me behind a tapestry of a particularly gruesome Goblin rebellion, that covered three large alcoves in the wall behind, which we all just managed to fit into – Rhiannon, Jasper, James and I squeezed into one, Remus, Rebecca and Eden into the next one, and ironically, Lizzie and Sirius were alone in the final alcove. I don't think that this was completely unintentional on Sirius' part, who had grabbed her hand to get behind the tapestry. Nevertheless, I think she was determined to resist his charms – endless as they were, as she seemed to think.

I heard Severus walk past – and James held me tightly, hugging me to his body. It was so silent I could hear his heart beating... but all too quickly, Severus was gone, and Sirius led us out of the tapestry, looking a little pink in the face. Lizzie came and stood by me and James.

We were all standing outside the statue. Sirius checked his little map, and confirmed that there was no-one near us. He got out his wand, tapped the statue, and uttered the spell, "_Dissendium_!"

A sizable gap appeared in the side of the statue – big enough for one person to get through at a time. Remus went through first, followed by Rebecca, Eden, Jasper, Rhiannon, me, James, Lizzie and then Sirius.

We seemed to be in a kind of passageway. It was dark, so we all lit our wands. I held James' hand snugly as we walked through what seemed an incessant tunnel, until we came to some steps. We ascended them at a reasonably rapid pace, and then came to a trapdoor.

"James, where exactly does this lead?" I asked fretfully.

"Honeydukes cellar," he replied.

"But won't the owners of Honeydukes notice nine sixteen-year-old Hogwarts students trooping through their shop?" I continued apprehensively.

"Yep – but don't forget, there's loads of Christmas customers in there. It'll be packed with last minute shopping – we'll go through in twos and threes, and we'll get out easily enough."

"Shall we meet outside the shop?" Remus suggested. "Some people can go every five minutes or so – buy some stuff from the shop, too, so we don't look too suspicious."

Remus, Rebecca and Eden left first – and five minutes later, Rhiannon and Jasper followed. I looked behind at Lizzie, who looked positively petrified at whether she would be able to control herself if she was left behind in the tunnel with Sirius Black.

"Don't worry, I'll protect her," Sirius said, chivalrously.

"Thanks," Lizzie muttered sarcastically, wrapping her coat around her.

Me and James left the tunnel. Luckily, the door into the shop had been left open, so we soundlessly entered the shop, slipped out from behind the counter, and quickly bought some sweets. I purchased a box of Chocolate Cauldrons and James bought three boxes of Bertie Botts' Every Flavour Beans. We joined the others outside – Sirius and Lizzie followed pretty quickly.

Seeing as everyone had bought something, we had a whole host of sweets to eat. We entered the Three Broomsticks, and sat in one corner of the bar, spreading out over three tables behind a Christmas tree. The boys went and ordered the drinks – I had a Butterbeer.

Lizzie, unfortunately, had been placed on the same table at Sirius, next to me and James. She was fretting silently, clearly agitated by this fact.

Whilst the boys were at the bar, I leaned over to her. "Lizzie, what's the matter?"

"It's Sirius... if he starts, I don't think I'll be able to resist, and what about Edward?"

"Lizzie... you're a strong, intelligent sixteen-year-old. I'm sure you'll be able to resist the charms of Sirius Black," I assured her. "Why don't you just break up with Edward?" I suggested.

"Oh no, I really, _really _like Edward, it's just I think I like Sirius just a teeny bit more. And Edward's already suspicious that I fancy Sirius –"

"Which you do," I said, rather unhelpfully.

"–I know, but he doesn't need to know that!"

"Lizzie, he's your _boyfriend_!"

"I know, Lily, but he's already suspicious and if I dump him because of Sirius think what people'll say about me!" Lizzie said.

"People won't say anything about you, as there would be nothing to say – you would be being honest," I told her.

"I wish it was that simple," she said, as James bought us over some foaming mugs of Butterbeer. Sirius handed Lizzie her glass of Pumpkin Juice, and placed his own Butterbeer in front of him.

"So... shall we open the sweets?" James asked, opening one of his three boxes of Bertie Botts' Every Flavour Beans. "Want one?"

"Okay," I smiled, cautiously taking one – a bright pink bean. I was a bit wary of these beans, after eating a spinach flavoured one in third year, which honestly was the most horrible thing I'd ever tasted.

"What flavour?" James asked, as I nibbled the end off.

"Raspberry," I replied pleasantly, and I swallowed the whole thing.

"You know, I've always liked the taste of raspberries," James said.

"Really?" I said with eyebrows raised.

"Really..." he said, leaning in, and we kissed. It developed into a proper long kiss, not like the little ones we usually stayed with when surrounded by friends. It hadn't been long before Rhiannon and Jasper had abandoned all thoughts of their Honeydukes sweets and had decided to investigate the art of kissing each other instead; Eden, Remus and Rebecca were in deep conversation, and Lizzie and Sirius were actually talking. Lizzie even ate one of Sirius' Chocolate Cauldrons he had bought. Sirius, being the big eater he was, ate four.

"I can't believe Prongs is eating Evans' face like that," Sirius said, receiving a kick under the table from James. Lizzie giggled.

Sirius was getting more and more like his old self by the second. He was cracking jokes, eating sweets, actually having polite conversation with Lizzie, making her laugh, and was even threatening for the first time in months to unleash his singing voice for the whole of the Leaky Cauldron to hear.

"Seriously, Lizzie, fancy hearing a bit of 'I'm Too Sexy' again?" he said suggestively.

"Hmmn... how about something new?" Lizzie suggested.

"Something new?" he repeated. "Like what?" he continued, leaning in closer.

Lizzie had also consumed a lot of sweets, and seemed unaware of the fact that Sirius has sincerely got his flirt on.

"I don't know... I heard your version of 'Puppy Love' earlier in the year," she answered him.

"Really? Did you enjoy it?"

"Of course. I've always liked your singing voice, Sirius, you know that," she replied.

"I wish I'd dedicated it to you," Sirius said flirtatiously.

"Really?" Lizzie said, looking pleasantly surprised.

"Oh boy yes," Sirius said, leaning in even closer, until there was nothing but a gap of about a centimetre between his nose and Lizzie's. James and I broke apart – I was astonished at how close Lizzie was letting Sirius be to her.

"Want to hear it again? This time, I'm all yours."

"Don't you mean the song's all mine?" Lizzie beamed.

"No, I'm all yours."

And with that, Sirius Black kissed Lizzie Armstrong – and she didn't even stop him.

James and I looked at each other – suddenly, Lizzie broke off, and then, realising what she had done, clapped her hand to her mouth, emitted a sob, and rushed out of the pub, Sirius running after her.

"Oh dear," James assessed.

_

* * *

_

Well done James for stating the obvious! I hope you liked that chapter - and by the way, Lizzie's dress is based on Emma Roberts' dress in

Hotel For Dogs _when she goes to the party. I really liked it! Please review - I'd love to get to 80... hint, hint... thanks for reading! Review for the next chapter, which involves the aftermath of the kiss and a very convenient letter..._

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	18. The Break Up

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: Thank you for helping me get to 80 reviews! I'd love to get to 90 this time :) there are too many people to thank but please keep reading and reviewing as I love your comments. Plus, a reviewer (who left me a really nice message actually) said that one of the characters had the same name as a girl in her class, so I just wanted to take this opportunity to say that any resemblences to anybody are completely a coincidence as the characters are fictitious. Some of them have the same names as me and my friends (guess who has the same name as me...) but they fully know about that and asked me to do it! Anyway, I hope you like this, it's the aftermath of the forbidden kiss... dun, dun, DUNNNNN...

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen**

**THE BREAK UP**

I next saw Lizzie in the Gryffindor common room, sobbing her eyes out into a cushion.

"How could I have been so dim-witted?" she cried.

"Lizzie, calm down love," I said soothingly.

"I have to break up with Edward ... he's going to be so angry when he finds out I kissed Sirius!" she sobbed.

"Lizzie ... if you truly like Edward, you can admit kissing Sirius was a mistake," I said.

"How can I Lily, when seven people, plus Merlin knows how many people in the Leaky Cauldron, witnessed it? I know it takes two to tango, but Sirius is single! It doesn't matter to him, it won't tarnish his reputation..." Lizzie cried even harder.

"Lizzie, he shouldn't have been flirting with you so outrageously when he knew you have a boyfriend," I said bluntly.

"I shouldn't have let him! I'm such a stupid, nasty person!" she sobbed. This reminded me so much of when I had that argument with James in fourth year. Lizzie had comforted me then.

Rhiannon came in, and seeing Lizzie crying, immediately sat herself down beside her on the sofa. It was now about half past ten at night – the Marauders hadn't entered the room yet, and it was a good thing. I wouldn't want to see Sirius' face when he saw the state Lizzie was in – or Lizzie see Sirius after what happened.

"Oh Lizzie," Rhiannon said, hugging her friend. Lizzie cried into Rhiannon's shoulder, Rhiannon patting her back.

I decided to go and find the Marauders, and to warn them to come through the common room in the Invisibility Cloak. I left Rhiannon comforting a distraught Lizzie.

I exited the common room via the Portrait Hole – nobody was stood outside. I really wanted to find them – I hope Sirius had a good explanation for everything.

My feet took me to the Entrance Hall, where I slipped out of the castle. The night was bitter cold – I still had my jumper dress and jacket on, but had forgotten to put my gloves on. I shivered, but headed towards where I'd no doubt find them.

I walked down to the lake – down to the Marauder's favourite tree. Sure enough, Sirius Black, sat between James and Remus, was there. He looked really upset – I never thought I'd see Sirius Black upset, let alone over a girl!

"James?" I called. He looked up, his hazel eyes shining in the moonlight.

Sirius looked up too. I hurried down towards them, and sat opposite James.

"What happened, Sirius?" I asked, calming my tone so it wasn't full of anger.

"I haven't a bloody clue, Evans. One minute we were just chatting... the next we were kissing..." he drifted off sadly.

"As I recall, you were seriously flirting with her," I reprimanded him.

"Yeah, but she wasn't pushing me away!" he defended himself. I rolled my eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?" he said angrily.

"Sirius, she has a boyfriend. A boyfriend that was already suspicious that something was going on between you two. Now, she feels so bad she's going to break up with him, and is really worried that everyone will think she's a terrible person. She really likes you Sirius."

"I really like her too... but why did she go out with Edward Kennedy if she likes me?" he asked. I saw James looked saddened by his best friend's upset – and Remus looked thoughtful.

"Because you were flirting with Rebecca! And, Sirius, you can't exactly count the amount of girlfriends you've had on your own fingers, can you?"

"Or Remus' and mine as well," James added. Sirius grinned at him.

"I'm glad to see this is such a big joke to you. I'll just go and comfort my sobbing best friend," I said irritably, turning to go.

"Evans, wait!" Sirius called. "She's crying?"

"She's sobbing into the cushions in the common room. She's really upset," I replied.

"It was my fault too!" Sirius admitted indignantly.

"She blames herself because she's going out with someone and you're single."

"Oh bloody hell," Sirius added. "Maybe I should talk to her."

"No... I think you should leave her to cool down for a few days. When you go back into the common room, wear the Invisibility Cloak so she can't see you," I told him. He nodded, and got up. He and Remus went ahead, clutching James' cloak, and James enveloped me into a large hug.

"I really like you Lily," he whispered, running his fingers through my now loose hair.

"I really like you too," I smiled, and we kissed each other again.

*

"I am going to write to Edward," Lizzie declared the next morning at breakfast. The owls hadn't come for post yet. "But I'll say we have to break up because of irreconcilable differences. We've been arguing for a few weeks, and he's too jealous of my friendship with Si– you know who," she said.

"Okay," I smiled at her. She was just piling some toast onto her plate when the owls came swooping down to the tables.

My owl, Venus, came and perched herself on my arm – she had a letter from my parents, and a package attached to her leg. My Christmas present!

Lizzie's owl, Austen, flew down to her, with a thin letter attached to her leg. Lizzie eagerly took it off, fed Austen some bacon, and opened the envelope.

"It's from Edward..." she sighed, and began to read. I observed her face as she read it. It was dropping further and further, but she didn't look as if she was going to cry.

"Oh dear," she said upon completion of reading it. "That was unexpected."

"What?" Rhiannon and I asked simultaneously. Eden and Rebecca also looked interested – but they were sharing the Daily Prophet between them and trying not to get milk on the horoscopes.

"Read it, I don't mind," Lizzie said, handing it over. We took it, and voraciously began to read.

_Dear Lizzie_, it said, in Edward's neat writing,

_Merry Christmas. I know the contents of my letter will come as a shock – but I have to be honest with you. The past few months have been great, but I have met someone else – and I have to admit that I prefer them to you. I haven't said anything to them yet, but I thought I'd break up with you first. I'm sorry. Have a pleasant Christmas,_

_Edward_

"Definitely unexpected," I said, "I particularly likes the way he breaks up with you and then wishes you a happy Christmas. How utterly polite of him."

"But this means you don't have to admit to kissing you-know-who!" Rhiannon smiled kindly at her.

"But I'll always live with the guilt that I did it!" Lizzie whined.

"Lizzie – go and tell Sirius. _Now_." There was something brutal in my voice, but I know Lizzie needed to tell him. I caught James' eye down the table – I smiled. He smiled back. Oh Merlin, I loved him.

"Are you sure?" she asked uncertainly.

We all nodded. She patted her hair down, smoothed down her skirt, and got up from the table, and headed in the direction of the Marauders.

"Sirius, can I speak with you for a minute?" she asked politely. He looked at his friends in trepidation, but got up anyway, and followed her out of the Great Hall.

"I can't wait to see the result of this!" Eden exclaimed.

_

* * *

_

Sirius Black

* * *

I cautiously followed Lizzie out of the Great Hall. Bloody hell she looked good. She was wearing a knee-length black skirt, tights, boots and a cream jumper. This had better be good, she'd torn me away from my humongous breakfast sandwich (five slices of toast, between each layer three pieces of bacon, three sausages, an egg, and beans poured on top) which I make as a ritual – and eat – every morning.

We stopped just outside the doors. She took a deep breath, and began to speak.

"Sirius... I..." she stammered.

"Don't worry, just say what you have to say," I prompted, smiling kindly.

"I got a letter from Edward this morning," she said.

"And?"

"He's broken up with me – he doesn't know about last night, but he said he's met someone else who he prefers to me, and before he asked her out, he wanted to dump me," Lizzie said, all in one breath.

"That's not a very nice subject for a letter," I replied.

"I know... but I'm glad."

"Why?"

"Because it means I can do this without feeling guilty..." she drifted off, and leaned in to kiss me again.

I responded so enthusiastically, I lifted her off her feet. I had waited for this moment for precisely... well, a while, actually.

_

* * *

_

Rhiannon Patterson

* * *

I saw Jasper come down for breakfast. He sat in next to me – he was amazing – I loved him so much.

"Hey beautiful," he greeted me, pulling me into a tight hug. I loved his smell – it was a mixture of soap and something sweet...

"Hi," I replied, and kissed him softly on the lips.

He buttered some toast for himself, and Lily walked over to sit by James. Remus came and joined Rebecca and Eden – emphasis on the word Rebecca! It's like they've got a secret thing going on... I haven't actually questioned Rebecca on it, but I'm sure my suspicions are correct.

"How's Lizzie?"

"I think she's okay... we'll find out properly in a few minutes," I answered him. I leant on him, him holding me close. It felt so good. I was almost so blissfully happy that I felt like forgiving Verity Oldham.

Okay, maybe not!

Eden passed me their copy of the Daily Prophet and me and Jasper began reading the Quidditch scores for the past week, when we heard a booming, echoing shout from the Entrance Hall, the voice belonging to Professor McGonagall.

"MR BLACK! PLEASE PUT MISS ARMSTRONG DOWN AT THIS INSTANT! YOU ARE BOTH BEHAVING LIKE A PAIR OF WILD ANIMALS!"

I smiled at Jasper. "I think they are both fine."

_

* * *

_

Hope you liked that! Please review to get the next chapter, which involves a little surprise for Lily... at the end of January... guess what it might be? Thank you so much for reading!

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	19. You Shouldn't Have

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: Thank you for the response to the last chapter - thank you to bluesmidge101, wannabe witch11, Tabithatibi, sarlovesoccer, .limits111, Sam-EvansBlue, Elizzabizz2008, Stephie Cat-Kat and Litira for reviewing! Thank you also to anybody who has read and stuck with my story so far, it means a lot! On with the chapter...

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen**

**"YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE..."**

The room was dark, and when my emerald eyes snapped open, I noticed that the rest of the beds were empty. Strange. I sat up – I was quite tired, thus very groggy. I glanced at the clock, and ascertained that it was half past seven. After a sudden panic that I was missing breakfast, I realised that it was Sunday, and breakfast would run from half seven to half nine.

I wondered why everybody was missing. Even Eden, who sleeps in till at least nine every Sunday morning, then scrambles down to breakfast at twenty past. I was so sleepy, I couldn't even remember what the date was. I knew it was the end of January sometime... but anyway, I carried on regardless. I brushed my unruly waist-length red hair into a more manageable style, and got dressed. When I opened my drawer to find my comfy green jumper, I found a package with a note taped to it. It said, _Please wear this Lily. I'll explain later. Rhiannon x_

I opened the package – out fell a beautiful grass green coloured chiffon top, with butterfly sleeves, and layers of the material overlapping each other. Silvery beads were sewn onto it decoratively. I slipped it on, it was quite long and came halfway down my thigh. I put on my black jeans underneath it, and slipped my feet into my black flat ballet pumps. I wondered why Rhiannon had left me such a stunning top – but just brushed my teeth and decided to find the others.

As I descended the stairs to the common room from the girls' dorms, I noticed that the lights were off in the common room too. I fumbled for my wand in my jeans pocket – when suddenly, eight multi-coloured lights flashed on around me.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILY!"

That was the date – the thirtieth of January – my birthday! How could I have forgotten?

James rushed up and kissed me properly. I hugged him close, and when we pulled apart, I noticed that the Gryffindors had bought me a special birthday breakfast, and had decorated the walls with streamers. I couldn't believe it!

"When did you plan this... breakfast party?" I asked disbelievingly.

"Yesterday, when you were finishing your Potions essay in the library," Lizzie told me, handing me a present. So did Eden, James, and Sirius, Remus, Peter and Jasper had clubbed together to get me one.

"Open it!" Lizzie said excitedly.

I tore the metallic blue paper away, untied the silvery ribbon, and pulled out the most gorgeous pair of shoes – indigo, high-heeled, peep toe shoes with a large bow on the toe.

"Aww, Lizzie, they're amazing, thank you!" I said, hugging her tightly.

I opened Eden's next – out fell a book, but it was a photo album of our years at Hogwarts – and she'd also managed to procure some of Rhiannon's photos from Cornwall so there was a big section of photos from that, including Sirius tipping Lizzie off his surfboard, and James and I walking along the cliff together. There were also pictures of the Masquerade Ball – Lizzie (me really!) posing in the flapper dress with me (Lizzie really, due to our spectacular Polyjuice potion plan!) in my forest flower dress, and Rhiannon and Eden looking dramatic on the stairs down from the dormitory, as well as pictures of the couples there, and one of all of us together; and Sirius' little concert of 'Tie Your Mother Down'. There were photos of the karaoke competition we'd had in fourth year, and a particularly embarrassing one of James singing 'Delilah' to me whilst I smiled widely at him, and Sirius springing off the bookcase in the middle of his 'I'm Too Sexy' routine. There were photos of us this Christmas as well, and one of Sirius and Lizzie together when they finally started going out. Eden had written little captions and descriptions for each picture – each of them moving in typical wizard fashion – and had decorated the pages with mementos and souvenirs of each occasion. The beach pages had sand and shells on them, the Masquerade Ball pages had miniature masks decorating the pages as well as some of the silver and white streamers and glitter that had been decorating the tables. From this Christmas, there were flattened Bertie Botts' Every Flavour Beans decorating the photo of James and I sitting together, feeding each other the beans.

"Oh, Eden, it's... it's perfect!" I cried in appreciation, throwing my arms around my close friend.

"I'm glad you like it Lily!" she replied happily.

Next was the combined present from Sirius, Remus, Peter and Jasper. It was quite a large, thin package. I was truly intrigued!

"Now Lily, before you open it," Remus said, smiling, "Sirius has a few words he'd like to say."

"Lily Evans, you have delighted us with your fiery, intellectual, James-loving presence for almost six years now, so we decided we wanted to give something back to you for your coming of age!" he exclaimed.

"And, as Sirius likes to make events uniquely special using his own particular talents..." Remus continued.

"I've prepared something special for you Lily, besides the present, with Prongs' guidance – we made the present, but he picked this entertainment item especially for you, and seeing as my singing talent is significantly superior to Prongs', I am singing this song for you specially," Sirius said, clutching his heart dramatically.

Sirius flicked his wand, and all the lights went out again – but suddenly, there was a spotlight on him standing on the table.

"This is one for all those lovers out there..." he said passionately, grinning at Lizzie, and closing his eyes and swaying. James wrapped his arms around me.

"YOU SHOW US EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT! YOU KEEP ON DANCING AND THE ROOM GETS HOT! YOU DRIVE US WILD, WE'LL DRIVE YOU CRAZZZZZY!" Sirius sang, a rocky tune suddenly in the background. I beamed – even though Sirius was chronically calamitous at singing, he was always entertaining.

"YOU KEEP ON SHOUTIN', YOU KEEP ON SHOUTIN'! I WANNA ROCK AND ROLL ALL NIGHT, AND PARTY EVERY DAY! I WANNA ROCK AND ROLL ALL NIGHT, AND PARTY EVERY DAY! I WANNA ROCK AND ROLL ALL NIGHT, AND PARTY EVERY DAY!" Sirius continued.

Then, he launched into one of his legendary stage routines. He avoided the bookcase, but this time, jumped up, and grabbed the chandelier – amazingly, it took his weight, and he swung, to and fro, bellowing, "I WANNA ROCK AND ROLL ALL NIGHT, AND PARTY EVERY DAY!" The spotlight he had conjured followed him, and then party lights started twinkling in the background as he jumped from the chandelier – and crashed into a wall. Unperturbed, he carried on, clutching his head.

"I WANNA ROCK AND ROLL ALL – ouch, Merlin that bloody hurt – NITE, AND PARTY EVERY DAY! I WANNA – Lizzie, kiss it better!"

Lizzie walked over to him, and stood on her tiptoes and kissed his forehead.

"Mr Sirius Black, everybody!" James called, and we all clapped.

"Open the present, Lily!" Peter said animatedly.

"Guys, you shouldn't have," I said, peeling away the wrapping paper. Out fell a thin cardboard sleeve with a record inside it.

On the front, was a grinning face of Sirius, and beside it, grinning equally irksomely, was James, Peter, Remus and Jasper. In big, glittering gold letters, it said, "Happy Birthday Lily!" and underneath, "Songs by Sirius Black and Friends".

On the back, I saw that they had recorded ten songs – 'Heaven Is A Place On Earth', 'I'm Too Sexy', 'Delilah', 'Somebody To Love', 'I do, I do, I do', 'Tie Your Mother Down', 'Puppy Love', 'All I Want For Christmas Is You', 'Surfing USA' and 'Rock and Roll All Nite'.

"You shouldn't have!" I beamed. I hugged them all, and gave James the biggest hug of all.

"Easy, you haven't even opened the present from him yet!" Sirius yelled, hugging Lizzie tightly.

"It's a bit similar to Eden's present..." he said shyly, "but it's from the heart!" he added quickly.

I took the last gift off the small pile beside me – it was wrapped in green tissue paper, tied with a white bow. It was so simplistic and sweet. I carefully unfolded all the paper, and found that James' present was a beautiful silver locket, with a silver lily decorating the front with bits of it set with peridots and emeralds. It was truly stunning – inside the locket was a photo of me and James. It wasn't one out of Eden's album – it was a picture of us before the Masquerade Ball – it was a picture of us on our very first day at Hogwarts. I remembered now that Sirius had insisted on taking a picture of us, and James had put his arm around me, and I reluctantly grinned and joined in. Then, it was a trivial occurrence. Now, it was a greatly treasured memory.

"Oh, James, it's perfect!" I said, kissing him.

It lasted for a while, and it was only when we heard the people around us whistling to alert us to their presence when we broke apart.

"And... we have one more surprise from your magnificent French friend, Rebecca!" Remus called. The lights dimmed again, and the portrait hole opened, and in walked Rebecca, holding a beautiful cake shaped like an owl, and iced like an owl too! Seventeen candles flickered, and Rebecca beamed at me. She set the cake down on the table, and I hugged her.

"_Joyeux Anniversaire_, Lily!" Rebecca said happily.

"Did you make this yourself?" I asked, astonished at the intricacy of the icing.

"Ze 'ouse elves made ze cake, but I iced it," she said bashfully.

"It's amazing, Rebecca, thank you so much," I replied.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!" Sirius howled, and everyone else joined in as I blew the candles out.

This was the most perfect birthday ever.

_

* * *

_

Hope you liked Lily's little surprise party, and the presents she got! Thank you for reading and please review for the next chapter, which involves a lot of what the Marauders do best, PRANKING!!

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	20. Innocent Till Proven Guilty

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: Sorry I didn't update earlier - I came home from school (broke up for Christmas!!!) and went out literally after putting my schoolbag down and have only just got back :) this is a biggun, anyway! I hope you like it - thank you to bluesmidge101, Tabithatibi, sarlovesoccer, Sam-EvansBlue, Stephie Cat-Kat, Mistress-Helium, Rider Arya Svit-kona and MaloryCullen14 for reviewing; thank you to HebeIris, Shuhuana and xExpectoxPatronumx for adding my story to their favourites and thank you to rainydays4567 for adding me to story alert! Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, I hope you have a lovely weekend and a great week/holiday!

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen**

**INNOCENT TILL PROVEN GUILTY**

It wasn't long until it was a week before James' birthday, the twenty-seventh of March. And to celebrate his coming of age, Sirius, Remus, Peter and he had organised a week of non-stop pranking. I loved James to bits, but I was a bit wary of the pranks they would be pulling. Yes, it was hilarious to watch them lock Severus in cupboards for a couple of hours. Yes, it was highly comical to watch them convince innocent little first years to eat sweets that made their hair turn funny colours or their noses to grow excessively. I could reel off a long list here, but all of them had been done before. And the Marauders wanted to do something to end all practical jokes, and become the Hogwarts Gods of Mischief Making – which they already were, but we felt it unnecessary to alert them to that fact, as their heads might not be able to fit through the doors afterwards.

"James?" I said sweetly when I was sat on his knee in the common room.

"Yes, Lily?" he replied, grinning charismatically.

"What exactly are you planning to do next week?" I asked him.

"Now that, Lily, is an extraordinarily enigmatic secret," he said. I was not satisfied.

"Is it... shutting Severus in a cupboard?" I persisted, starting to guess.

"No – it doesn't have the same hilarious effect as it did before. I think Snivellus is used to it, and does not feel the need to shove cake in my face. Good times, good times," he said reminiscently, which made me laugh.

"Is it... feeding first years dodgy sweets that will alter their appearances?"

"No – but last week, this little gang of third years came up to Sirius all adoringly and were full on flirting with him, and being the natural charmer he so obviously is –"

"Sirius? A natural charmer?" I snorted.

"Yes, I know what you mean. I visibly beat him in the charm stakes at all times – good looks, charisma, personality, ability to charm young witches..."

"I hope you don't use that part of your charm very often," I smiled. "Seeing as you won't have to do it for a while." I kissed his head softly.

He grinned, and carried on with his story. "Being the natural charmer – inferior to me of course, King of Charm – gave them all sweets so they so obligingly took them 'cause they fancy the pants off him and ate them, and they all got chronic acne for three days. It was side-splitting – they didn't realise it was the sweets Padfoot fed them and every time they saw him in the corridors he smiled charmingly at them and they went haywire, flattening their fringes and covering faces and so forth – one of them, the ringleader of the little third year Sirius fan club, shut a book on her head as she walked past and almost fell out of the window!"

Yes, that was definitely riotous.

"You can tell me, I won't tell anybody..."

"Lily Evans? Prefect? I most certainly cannot tell her!" James said indignantly, the corners of his mouth twitching in amusement.

"Oh really? Well that means James Potter is not going to get a birthday kiss off Lily Evans, and that she will leave him in the common room currently," I said, pretending to be angry, and jumped up, and ran off to the dorm. James knew I was joking, but it was quite funny.

*

"Hogsmeade on Saturday!" Lizzie declared the next morning. This would be a great opportunity to get James' present – the trouble was, I had not got the _foggiest _idea what to get him. Rebecca was excellent at gift-buying, and had promised she would help me think of something.

"Are we meeting up with the boys to go shopping?" Rhiannon asked, thinking contemplatively of Jasper.

"Not the Gryffindor boys. Apparently they have some business to attend to – Jasper can come with us though," Eden replied.

"Business to attend to? Merlin, that sounds worrying!" Rhiannon laughed, but then went back to dreaming of her Jasper.

"Zey are probably going to visit ze joke shop," Rebecca inputted wisely.

"Obviously!" I giggled. "And as well... shall we plan a little surprise for dear Jamesie?" I cackled wickedly.

"What, and get Remus, Peter, Jasper and Sirius involved?" Eden asked.

"A party? Planning it with Sirius – I mean, the guys?" Lizzie said, her ears pricking up when Sirius was mentioned. They were still going strong – Sirius had given up his player ways. They were perfect.

"Yes – with a difference. Girls? I've had an amazing idea..." I drifted off.

*

"Now, we have to keep the party on the down low – but we need to get some food and stuff," I said.

"Sirius and I can get that," Lizzie said, hugging Sirius close. He kissed her softly.

We were all meeting in our room – Sirius and Lizzie were sitting on her bed, Remus was sitting on the end of Rebecca's bed, and Rebecca was sitting cross-legged on her pillow. Eden was lying across her bed, Peter was leaning against the door, and I was sat on my bed.

"I know the perfect location," Remus said, his eyes glinting.

"Where?"

"It's completely secret – and we can have it however we want," he replied.

"Where is zat?" Rebecca asked.

"The Room of Requirement," Remus shrugged, but I could tell he was enjoying the attention from Rebecca.

"Sounds good..." I praised him. "So next Sunday night – eight o'clock – you get James up there on some pretext or other, Sirius, and we'll be inside this room ready to party. Music and entertainment?" I asked.

"May I so boldly put myself forward for singing? I know Prongs always likes to encourage my singing talents. I'm sure he'd find it a blessing that I was singing to him on his seventeenth birthday," Sirius said proudly. Remus smirked.

"Yeah, okay. So – that seems all sorted? A week on Sunday then, we'll meet in the common room at seven, and we'll make sure James is occupied and we'll set up," I smiled. "So, Hogsmeade today then?"

"Yeah girls, I'm so very sorry, but we're going to have to split up in Hogsmeade; we can go to the Three Broomsticks together, but then we have business to attend to," Sirius said, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye.

"I think we'll survive," Rhiannon laughed.

"Oh my love, does she not know how she hurts me?" Sirius pretend-cried into Lizzie's shoulder. She patted him on the back, silently giggling.

The boys left our dorm and we got ready to go to Hogsmeade. It was beginning to warm up slightly, so I left my gloves, scarf and hat behind when we went downstairs to meet the boys. James was oblivious to our little meeting just now, and greeted me in his usual way of a kiss and a hug. "Hi Lily," he whispered into my ear, as we clasped our hands together and walked to Hogsmeade.

The Three Broomsticks was reasonably crowded with Hogwarts students – we managed to find a large round table to sit all ten of us (Jasper had joined us on the walk down, pleasing Rhiannon immensely) and the boys went off to the bar to get drinks.

The last time we had come in here had been that time at Christmas – when Lizzie and Sirius had accidentally kissed. Now, they were perfectly entitled to kiss in front of however many witnesses they wanted, as they were an item.

James sat next to me and handed me my Butterbeer, which I began to sip, and leant on his shoulder at the same time.

Sirius seemed to be getting a lot of amusement out of the round table we were sat at. He discovered, after about thirty seconds of sitting down, that the top of the table could be spun round. So when everybody was talking, he sneakily spun the table so that when I turned back, after a lengthy kiss from James, I saw that instead of my Butterbeer, in front of me was now a glass of pumpkin juice, undoubtedly belonging to Lizzie.

"Why's Lizzie's drink in front of me?" I asked Sirius, who just started laughing wildly and banging his fists on the table. This, in turn, made James and Remus virtually explode with laughter as it was, admittedly, quite funny.

"Yeah, and why's Peter's Gillywater in front of me?" Rhiannon asked, tearing her eyes away from Jasper for a fraction of a second. Then she saw Sirius crying with laughter.

"What's so funny?" Peter asked – he was extremely slow at catching on to things. It seemed only Remus and Rebecca had the patience to explain to him – and Peter couldn't understand Rebecca's accent so then had to get Remus to repeat everything. He was a hopeless case sometimes.

I gave Lizzie her drink back, and Remus passed me my Butterbeer. Sirius was still chortling away to himself, and Lizzie looked slightly bewildered at her boyfriend's outburst. But then, when she fortuitously knocked the table, she noticed that it moved slightly.

"Sirius Black, you span the table round!" Lizzie cried. She put a mock-angry face on, which made him laugh even more. He was bright red in the face now. Lizzie joined in – Sirius and Lizzie both had infectious laughs, and were both a good laugh anyway. They were hugging each other and still chuckling at the spinning table. I could not quite understand what was so funny, but they seemed to think it was uproarious!

"Right lads, I think we have to go stock up for next week," Sirius announced when he had _finally_ calmed down. He gave Lizzie a quick kiss on the cheek, and James did the same for me. Remus and Peter got up, and followed them out of the pub.

"I really don't like the sound of what they're planning!" Rhiannon said worriedly.

"I know... but I can't wait to see the look on James' face for the party! Jasper, you can come too, you're part of our group now," I said kindly. Rhiannon beamed at me for this, and went back to staring into Jasper's eyes. She did it so often she could probably list it as one of her hobbies.

"So...Honeydukes anyone?" I said, not wanting to sit here watching Rhiannon and Jasper stare at each other. It was cute, but we had hours yet – and although I'm sure they could sit and stare for hours, I couldn't.

"_Oui_, I want to get zose Bertie Botts Flavour Beans," Rebecca answered a few seconds later.

"Yeah, I want some Chocolate Cauldrons," Lizzie smiled – she had a particular weakness for Chocolate Cauldrons. She had four boxes of them under her bed – emergency supplies, as she called them.

"You have four boxes already!" Eden said in amazement.

"So? They're for a rainy day! What if I got trapped in the room, and there was no food except for those four boxes of Chocolate Cauldrons? I would have to live for days on those things – they are for emergencies only!" Lizzie replied huffily.

"Does that mean if _I_ got trapped in our room, I could eat them?" I asked, smiling.

"No, buy your own supplies!" Lizzie laughed.

"Do you ever let Sirius eat your Chocolate Cauldrons?" Rhiannon asked.

"Yes, but even he would not be allowed in my emergency boxes. Unless we were trapped in the room together, then he would, because it would be rude otherwise," Lizzie answered.

"You wouldn't have time to eat them if you were trapped in the room together," Eden sniggered.

"Oh be quiet you!" Lizzie stuck her tongue out at her.

We left the Three Broomsticks and wandered towards Honeydukes. It was packed to the brim with Hogwarts students, but Lizzie managed to squeeze in and buy three boxes of her precious Chocolate Cauldrons, and a massive jar of Chocolate Frogs.

"She must have hollow legs with all that chocolate she eats!" I commented to Eden, who was sampling a Cockroach Cluster.

"Definitely. You do know she'll eat all those Chocolate Cauldrons in one sitting?" she replied, spitting the sweet out into a tissue.

"Yep," I grinned.

We exited the sweet shop – Lizzie carrying her boxes of chocolate in a big bag – and noticed the Marauders coming out of Zonko's Joke Shop with several bags stuffed to the brim.

"Uh oh," I said, "looks like the joke revolution is coming."

*

We did not have to wait long for the jokes and pranks to start. It began Monday morning, at breakfast. Sirius, James, Remus and Peter were surprisingly early at breakfast. When we came down, dressed and showered, they were already wolfing down their food. Sirius was making his breakfast sandwich – the five tiered bacon, sausage and egg delight as he called it; Lizzie called it a vomit-fest.

"You're early!" I smiled at James, and he kissed me on the cheek as I slid in beside him – Lizzie came and sat down beside Sirius, who left his sandwich making for a quick kiss with her. Luckily Professor McGonagall could not see them, so could not shout at them for spontaneous snogging in a public place.

"Girls, we have to make a little speech," Sirius suddenly said importantly. "So, if you wouldn't mind, please shut your traps for five minutes whilst we begin this spectacular week leading up to Prongs' birthday." He smiled sweetly.

Lizzie caught my eye, and we both stifled a giggle and looked down at our cereal.

"Remus, please begin," Sirius continued.

"Well, we Marauders have been together for five and a half long years. It's been so much fun, and, we would like to celebrate our ringleader, Prongs', seventeenth birthday and coming of age with a special week of Marauder delight," Remus said.

"Our little Jamesie is growing up!" Sirius sobbed.

"Yes, thank you, Padfoot. This week – we intend to pull as many pranks as possible without getting caught," Remus finished.

"Which means no detentions – that's the fun part!" Sirius continued fake-crying into Lizzie's shoulder.

"No more flirting with McGonagall in eight o'clock detention," James said dreamily.

"Er, James?" I asked.

"Yes, my petal?"

"If you flirt with McGonagall again, I will kill you."

"You take away all my fun!" James whined babyishly.

"Aww, is little Jamesie wamesie upset?" I cooed. He nodded. "Would a little kiss make Jamesie better?" I asked. He nodded willingly. "Alright then."

I kissed him full on the mouth, and he responded with much enthusiasm.

"MR POTTER AND MISS EVANS, PLEASE UNTANGLE YOURSELVES FROM EACH OTHER – THIS IS NOT A TIME TO BE GLUING YOUR FACES TOGETHER!" Professor McGonagall bellowed.

We immediately broke apart.

"She's just sad it's not her, Prongs," Sirius smirked, and I whacked him with a rolled up copy of the Daily Prophet, courtesy of Rebecca.

"And to celebrate the beginning of a momentous occasion in Marauder history, I am going to sing for you all. This is one I know you love – except you haven't heard me sing it yet!" Sirius said.

Surprisingly, he did not jump up onto the table.

"Aren't you going to get on the table?" I asked, amused.

"Wait a second, I do have a stage routine planned out after all," Sirius answered cockily.

"Oh dear Merlin," Lizzie muttered to herself, putting her head in her hands. The hall was packed with students.

"Get ready, three... two... one... GO PADFOOT!" James yelled, and everyone turned round. Most people had become accustomed to Sirius making an exhibition of himself in front of the school – most of the sixth year remembered his mini-concert at the Masquerade Ball last year.

However, Sirius remained in his seat, and began to howl: "MAMA, JUST KILLED A MAN!" he hollered. "MAMA, OOOH, DIDN'T MEAN TO MAKE YOU CRY! IF I'M NOT BACK AGAIN THIS TIME TOMORROW, CARRY ON, CARRY ON, AS IF NOTHING REALLY MATTERS!"

He carried on, and everyone was swaying along, even the bewildered teachers. Suddenly, he jumped up on the table, and began to turn round wildly, and point at everybody. "I SEE A LITTLE SILHOUETTO OF A MAN! SCARAMOUCH, SCARAMOUCH, WILL YOU DO THE FANDANGO!"

Then, to aid his little show, a couple of third-year girls, who were thoroughly mesmerized by Sirius, promptly chorused, "THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTENING! VERY VERY FRIGHTENING ME!"

"Dear, dear, Merlin," Lizzie said, banging her head on the table between each word.

Suddenly, James jumped up too, to help Sirius sing.

"GALILEO!" Sirius sang in a really high pitched voice.

"GALILEO!" James yelled in a really deep voice.

"GALILEO!"

"GALILEO!"

"GALILEO FIGARO, MAGNIFICO! I'M JUST A POOR BOY NOBODY LOVES ME!"

"HE'S JUST A POOR BOY FROM A POOR FAMILY SPARE HIM HIS LIFE FROM THIS MONSTROSITY!" James bellowed.

This yelling continued for a while, until they jumped off the table, ran up and down the aisles, and started saying, "SO YOU THINK YOU CAN STONE ME AND SPIT IN MY EYE? SO YOU THINK YOU CAN LOVE ME AND LEAVE ME TO DIE??? OH, BABYYYY, CAN'T DO THIS TO ME BABYYYY, JUST GOTTA GET OUT, JUST GOTTA GET RIGHT OUTTA HERE!" Sirius finished up.

"Well done, Mr Black, Mr Potter, for entertaining us so consummately," Professor Dumbledore said, clapping with the rest of the hall, his eyes twinkling. "Would you like to take a bow?"

Sirius and James took a bow, and waved to their _adoring_ fans as they took their seats.

"Great start to the week," I complemented them, buttering some toast.

James walked with me to Transfiguration – we sat together in class now. He had his arm around me and kept running his fingers through his hair. "Don't worry, this week is going to be the funniest week ever at Hogwarts."

"Ever? I think to do that the karaoke would have to be a part of it – 'Delilah' reprise?" I smiled.

"Maybe," he laughed.

"Mr Potter, Miss Evans, kindly enter the classroom," Professor McGonagall said, standing at the door.

We entered and sat down. I now sat next to James, Sirius and Lizzie were behind us, Rebecca and Remus in front, Rhiannon and Jasper were sat together, and Eden and Rhys Wilkes.

"Today we will be learning how to change aspects of our physical appearance – for example, Miss Patterson, Mr Rathbone, could you please stand for me?"

Rhiannon and Jasper obliged.

"Now, Miss Patterson, you shall be changing the colour of Mr Rathbone's hair. When you say the spell on the board, visualize what colour you would like his hair to turn, and hopefully, if enough emphasis is put on the thought, his hair colour should change successfully. Miss Patterson, if you please."

Rhiannon pointed her wand at Jasper, swiftly shut her eyes, obviously concentrating, and said the spell.

"HAHAHA!" Sirius was the first to laugh. Jasper suddenly looked very worried, as James, Remus, Rhiannon, Peter, Lizzie, Eden, Rebecca and I joined in.

"Well, Mr Rathbone, I can certainly say you look very dashing with violet hair. Miss Patterson could always change it back for you, if you wanted..."

"Yes please!" Jasper replied rapidly.

Soon, everyone was practising the spell. James turned my hair bubblegum pink, and I turned his sunny yellow. Sirius and Lizzie both had tangerine hair, and Rhiannon's hair was now electric blue.

"So begins the joking..." Sirius whispered in James' ear. Sirius pointed the wand at McGonagall – who had her back turned, looking at Peter's abysmal work that had managed to make his poor partner's hair explode into flames – said the incantation, and McGonagall's usually greyish black hair was now the colour of a ripe tomato.

"Don't say a word!" James warned us, and everyone carried on as normal. Professor McGonagall did not notice that her hair had artlessly changed colour.

"Are you planning to do that for every teacher today?" I asked him.

"Yep, and it wasn't even on the agenda!" James grinned audaciously.

Sure enough, they did. Second lesson, in Defence Against the Dark Arts, Bloodstone's hair was turned bright tangerine. Third lesson, Professor Slughorn's hair was turned sunshine yellow – what was left of his hair anyway. Fourth lesson, in Charms, Professor Flitwick's hair was changed to a magnificent bottle green – it looked like a tree was growing out of the sides of his face with his beard. It was amazing how all of the teachers were oblivious to their hair changing colour – they would see it at lunch, however. On the way to the Great Hall, Sirius changed the colour of Professor Kettleburn's hair (which was standing up as if he had just had fire breathed at him) a turquoise blue colour, and James managed to change Professor Sprout's hair to a similar sort of violet shade to the colour Rhiannon had made Jasper's hair. Remus also stopped the Astronomy professor and, on the pretext of asking him a question about some work he did not understand – which he quite patently did – changed his hair to a luminous pink.

"Ha! The teachers are rainbow heads!" Sirius laughed as he sat down at the table, watching the teachers examining their hair with horror in their shiny goblets and cutlery. Professor McGonagall was seething with anger as she scrutinized her newly tomato hair in the back of her fork.

Sirius, James, Remus and Peter snorted, keeping their heads low –this action obviously had betrayed ultimately how much the blame lied with them – stimulating Professor McGonagall to shout their names across the Great Hall, causing it to fall silent as the Marauders walked up to the front.

"Are YOU responsible for the colours our hair has turned to?" Professor McGonagall asked them.

"No, Professor."

"No, Professor."

"No, Professor."

"Er, what was the question?" an incalculably confused Peter asked. Professor McGonagall just looked at him.

"Professor, we are not responsible for this despicable rule-breaking exercise – we strive to hold all the rules as the most important things in our lives," Sirius said, putting his hand on his heart.

"Furthermore, we desire to know why you suspect us of this wholly contemptible crime, Professor," James said resentfully, crossing his arms.

"As I said, we like to prevent the juvenile delinquents of our school to break any rules – going against the imperative school rules is completely against our ethic," Remus said. I do not know how these boys kept their faces straight.

"I am sorry, boys, it is admirable that you like to prevent rule-breaking," Professor McGonagall eulogized, with a hint of disdain.

"Plus, Professor, none of the colours the teachers' hair have been turned to are our favourites. If it was us, we would incontrovertibly leave a sign to say it was us. Unfortunately, Professor, it wasn't – but we shall make it our life's work to catch the irrepressible criminal who committed this atrocious act," Sirius added, keeping his hand glued to his heart.

"Sit down boys, your speech has made me believe that you are innocent. But if the perpetrator of this crime ever commits it again, it will be detention. For a month," McGonagall said.

The boys left the platform.

"Punished?" Lizzie asked, hugging Sirius. He kissed her delicately on the lips.

"We are innocent until proven guilty, I'll have you know!" James said, hugging me tightly.

*

The week passed much the same – Saturday came, and the boys had not got a single detention for any of their pranks. They had set of multiple stink bombs in the Entrance Hall, given many people the chronic acne sweets – using Sirius and James' immense charms – so now most of the girls in the school had pus-filled pimples all over their faces, conjured up banners saying 'GRYFFINDOR FOREVER – RED AND GOLD' and hung them all over every classroom in the school – including around the dungeons, where the Slytherin common room was. They had made half the books in the library chant muggle rock songs which maddened Madam Pince to no end, they had charmed all the alarm clocks in the school to wake everyone at three in the morning – with the exception of our room, of course, as we would throttle them otherwise – and had jumped out from behind tapestries at unsuspecting first years.

They had managed to get away with every prank they had pulled. Everything was blatantly them, but whenever questioned by the teachers about it, they came up with such amusing excuses and excellent speeches that the teachers let them off.

When Professor Slughorn asked them about the acne sweets, Sirius innocently said, "Professor, it is not our fault that the girls in this school are having acne break-outs. It could be due to exam stress."

Slughorn then asked him, "But why are you and your select friends free of it?"

Sirius then replied, "Because we care for our skin – I cleanse, tone and moisturise every evening so that my skin will remain as soft as a baby's bottom."

When the Gryffindor banners were all over the school, it was Professor McGonagall, yet again, who asked them about it. "Sorry Professor, unfortunately, we couldn't _possibly_ have done this – we were too busy patrolling the corridors and making sure any rule-breaking was prevented," Remus said.

"We do not, after all, condone criminal behaviour. We will make it our life's work to capture the perpetrator," James added.

"Just like it was your life's work to catch the perpetrator who changed the colour of all the teachers' hair?" McGonagall asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Now we have two purposes to our life, Professor. We're multi-tasking," James answered impudently.

Madam Pince was seething with anger about the singing books in the library – she was so livid she had entrusted Professor Bloodstone to quiz the Marauders about it.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, sir," Sirius said.

"Are you sure, Mr Black? I happen to be aware that you are a particular follower of muggle rock bands and the songs chanted by the library books in question are, in fact, some of your favourites?" Professor Bloodstone continued.

"Someone has tried to frame my best friend!" James declared angrily, patting a pretend-sobbing Sirius on the back. "Everyone always immediately assumes a crime was committed by us, when in fact, we are _model_ students!"

"Yes thank you, Mr Potter. Are you quite sure that you did not do this?"

"Oh yes, Professor," Remus answered.

Professor Flitwick was put in charge of enquiring about the charmed alarm clocks.

"But Professor, we do not know the passwords to the other house common rooms – so we could not possibly have done it. Perhaps everybody suddenly had a memory lapse and set them for three in the morning. We did the exact same thing. Perhaps it was something in the chicken, last night?" Remus asked.

It seemed nobody could convict them of their crimes, and they re-enacted every scene of being interrogated in the Gryffindor common room each evening of the week. It was getting rather tiring, but it was very funny to hear their excuses.

We were sat in the common room on Saturday morning, it was about eleven, and we were all wondering what to do. I had completed my homework assignments and essays for the weekend – surprisingly, so had James. Lizzie and Rhiannon had as well, and Rebecca, Eden, Remus and Peter were in the library completing the Transfiguration work. Predictably, Sirius had not completed his homework but had taken the decision to stay in the common room with us (just so he could be with Lizzie, I bet).

"I am so bored," Sirius said.

"Me too," James agreed.

"Me three," I said, smiling.

"Me four," Lizzie declared, hugging Sirius close.

"Me five," Rhiannon finished.

"Alright, alright, this is not a bloody counting session!" Sirius warned, but grinned all the same. "We need something interesting to do."

"Marry, Kiss, Ditch?" Rhiannon suggested.

"What in the name of Merlin's star-spangled tights is 'Marry, Kiss, Ditch'?" James asked, raising his eyebrows in such a comical way it made me laugh.

"Well, you give three people, and people have to put each name to either Marry, Kiss, or Ditch," Rhiannon explained.

"Sounds good enough," Sirius complemented.

"Can I go first?" James asked elatedly, with the excitement of a five-year-old child opening their presents at Christmas.

"Yeah. Shall I ask?" Rhiannon said, and we all nodded. Lizzie knew how to play this game too, but Rhiannon came up with the best options. "Alright James... Lily, me, Lizzie. Marry, Kiss, Ditch?"

"That's silly!" he complained.

"Answer!" I yelled with a mock-angry face.

"Alright, alright, keep your hair on!" Sirius said, eyes wide.

"Right, I'd marry Lily, because then I could kiss her whenever I wanted–" James began.

"Excuse me, I'm not a kissing machine!" I said indignantly.

James just grinned. "I'd kiss Rhiannon because her boyfriend isn't here and it'd only be once, and he's not likely to punch me, and I'm sorry Lizzie, but I'd ditch you because otherwise Sirius would push me down a hole."

Sirius laughed heartily, slamming his fists on the arm of his chair.

"Can I have a go?" Sirius asked.

"Okay, I'm doing it this time," Lizzie said, "Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, Professor Trelawney. Marry, kiss, ditch, Sirius?"

"Professor who? Who's the last one?"

"Professor Trelawney. New Divination teacher," Lizzie answered.

"What, that bat up in the tower with the spangly shawl and the glasses that make her look like a beetle?" Sirius scoffed. Lizzie nodded.

"I'd marry Professor McGonagall, because she's just so sexy, I'd snog Professor Trelawney because quite frankly beetles are one of the most gorgeous things that walked this earth and I'd ditch Professor Sprout."

"I'm asking you now!" James said to me. I groaned inside. "Marry, Kiss, Ditch – Lucius Malfoy, Severus Snape, Peter Pettigrew?"

"Why does Peter get lumped in with the Slytherins?"

"Because he's about as attractive as them. Now answer!" James prompted me.

"Oh dear Merlin. You couldn't have given me any better choices? Like you, Sirius and Remus or something? Oh right then. I'd marry Snape, just as long as we didn't have to have any physical contact, and could live in opposite sides of the world," I began, squirming at the thought of it.

James roared with laughter at this.

"Ugh, I'd rather kiss Peter than Malfoy – but I don't want to kiss Peter at all! I suppose I'd ditch Malfoy," I said, a disgusted look on my face. "Rhiannon, I'm asking you now!"

Rhiannon smiled. "Jasper, James, Sirius. Marry, kiss, ditch?"

"Lily!" she squealed. "Jasper I would marry, of course. Kiss or ditch? James or Sirius? Bloody hell! I don't know? Both of them are attached to my best friends for crying out loud! Can't I just ditch them both?"

"Oh, thanks, Rhiannon!" Sirius exclaimed sarcastically.

"Fine, I'd kiss you on the cheek, and ditch James."

"She is the limit!" James cried.

"Lizzie!" Sirius called. "James, Remus or Peter?"

"What about you?" she pouted.

"That just makes it too easy!" Sirius cackled wildly.

"Can I opt out?" Lizzie asked pleadingly. Sirius shook his head evilly. "Right, I'd marry... Remus, kiss James, ditch Peter."

"And why would you marry Moony?"

"I suppose I could have a decent conversation with him. And then he could go off with Rebecca or whoever, and I could go off with you," Lizzie reasoned.

"Go off with Rebecca?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow, and looking at James. "Why would he go off with Rebecca?"

"Have you seen the way they look at each other? And Rebecca went and visited him herself when he was in the hospital wing last month," Rhiannon added.

"We'll have to quiz him about it later," James said, pulling a sleuth face. He looked very silly.

"Speaking of which, we have to go and find him anyway. We have one last prank to coordinate before tomorrow. See you, ladies," they said. James kissed me properly, and then left with Sirius, who had kissed Lizzie.

"I thought it was all over, the week of pranking!" Rhiannon whined.

"I don't think we've seen anything yet!" I said darkly.

_

* * *

_

Phew, that was a long one! The song, I bet everybody knows, was "Bohemian Rhapsody" by the completely legendary Queen! I hope you liked Marry, Kiss, Ditch as well - me and my friends play that! Plus, a few notes on the events in the chapter: the whole spinning the table thing probably doesn't sound very funny but when me and my friends went to a Chinese restaurant for my friend's birthday there was about twelve of us all sat round this huge round table and one of my friends worked out it could spin so she kept doing it when nobody was looking, we were all falling on the floor with laughter :) I hope you liked their protestations of innocence as well! Please review for the next chapter, which involves THE BIG ONE! The big, final prank of James' birthday week! Thanks for reading, sorry about my excessively long A/Ns this chapter,

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	21. The Last Prank

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: Sorry about the lack of update yesterday - I was busy most of the day and went to see St Trinian's 2, which I recommend to everybody as it was amazing! Plus I'm really sorry if I miss anybody off my thank you list, I don't know why but notifications of reviews, alerts and favourites have stopped being sent to my email account, so if anyone can tell me why this is or perhaps help me because I'm kind of awful with technology I'd seriously appreciate it :) Thank you to EgyptianBookWorm, MaloryCullen14, Rider Arya Svit-Kona, lily-james-forevs, bluesmidge101, Sam-EvansBlue, Stephie Cat-Kat and sarlovesoccer for reviewing; thank you to EgyptianBookWorm, lily-james-forevs, littleyellowfish and XritaskeeterhatersX for adding my story to your favourites and thank you to EgyptianBookWorm for adding my story to your alert subscriptions! It was really nice to see that you find the Marauders in my story funny and like the comedy, I'm sometimes worried I overdo it a bit! Thanks for reading, please review!

* * *

**Chapter Twenty**

**THE LAST PRANK**

Lunch was uneventful. We did not get treated to a little concert, much to the disappointment of Sirius and James' admirers in the lower years. Now the acne epidemic was gone, all the girls were desperate for the two boys to speak to them. It was like they were some celebrities or something. It was quite worrying.

The boys were all really excited all afternoon. We went and sat outside due to an usually sunny and warm burst of weather for March, and sat underneath the Marauder's favourite tree by the lake. It seemed most other Hogwarts students were taking advantage of the weather, and were out in the grounds too.

I couldn't fathom their excitement. It was quite mysterious as to the precise cause, but Lizzie reasoned it as being because of the last prank they would be pulling this week. And apparently, it would be a big one.

"My petal, you just wait and see," James grinned when I questioned him about it.

We didn't have to wait long.

I was holding James' hand when we walked into the Great Hall – Lizzie and Sirius behind us, Rhiannon and Jasper in front, and Eden, Remus and Rebecca behind with Peter trailing far behind by himself. We sat down for dinner.

I was about to pour myself a goblet full of pumpkin juice, when James said, "I wouldn't do that, Lily. Have some Butterbeer instead," passing me a bottle of it. I wasn't complaining, I love Butterbeer, but I just found it odd. Remus, Sirius and Peter did the same to the others. However, they poured goblets full for themselves.

Suddenly, James and Sirius stood up, holding their goblets.

"Just before anyone drinks their pumpkin juice," Sirius said, grinning widely, "I'd like to make a toast."

"To our magnificent headmaster, and teachers," James smiled.

"To our magnificent headmaster and teachers," everyone said, drinking from their goblets. Lizzie, Rhiannon, Eden, Rebecca and I all sipped from our bottles of Butterbeer.

The boys then sat down – then, there was a huge bang. We all looked round, but the smoke that evidently came with the bang was impenetrable for a few minutes. We coughed, and I felt for James' hand, but it was a lot smaller than I remembered.

As the smoke disappeared, I turned to face him – to see _a three-year-old bespectacled boy sat in his place_. Looking around – everyone had turned into their toddler selves. Lizzie, Rhiannon, Eden, Rebecca and I were the only ones free of it. Even the teachers were toddlers.

"They didn't..." I said unsurely.

"They wouldn't..." Lizzie said.

"They have really done it this time!" Rhiannon yelled irritably.

"Oh Merlin yes," Lizzie said, seething with anger, watching the toddler next to her play with the end of her sleeve.

"What are we going to do?" Eden asked.

"First we need to stop the toddlers from escaping. That would make it ten times worse," I said calmly. Lizzie and I immediately rushed to the doors to bolt them shut. The toddlers Sirius and James had followed us.

"Yes, sweetie, what do you want?" Lizzie asked Sirius as he tugged on her sleeve.

"Give me a kiss," toddler Sirius demanded, smiling.

"Guess he was a womanizer when he was little, too," Lizzie laughed, picking him up.

James started tugging on my sleeve. "I'm a big boy now," he told me.

"Oh, why is that?" I said kindly, though it was hard as I was really annoyed at him.

"I can do a poo all by myself," he said proudly.

I could not wait to tell James about this when he was back to normal. HA!

"Right, Rhiannon, Rebecca and Eden said they'd look after everybody whilst we go and find a cure..." Lizzie drifted off uncertainly.

"PROFESSOR DUMBLEDORE! STOP PUSHING PROFESSOR MCGONAGALL OFF HER CHAIR!" Rhiannon bellowed at a mischievous little Dumbledore, who was taking great delight in pushing McGonagall, who seemed to find him extremely annoying.

"And where the bloody hell are we supposed to find that?" I cried.

"Potions lab?" she suggested, "they obviously put something in the pumpkin juice."

"Right," I replied. We ran out of the Great Hall – where a food fight between the Slytherin and Gryffindor tables was promptly beginning to start, towards the dungeons.

As we rushed into the potions classroom, I saw a book open on the side next to a cauldron. There was a note next to it, written in James' untidy scrawl – _Lily, antidote on page thirty-two. Have fun! Love James xx_

"Have fun? HAVE FUN?" Lizzie yelled, clearly annoyed at the outcome of things.

"Page thirty-two..." I said absentmindedly, flicking through the book. James had some explaining to do.

"It looks simple enough..." Lizzie said, finally calming down. "Gurdyroots... moonflower... lacewing flies..."

Soon, she had all the ingredients gathered up, and we began making the potion.

"They are going to kill us," I said, an hour after we had begun brewing the potion. It was now a ripe tomato colour, but we had had to make ten cauldrons worth to feed to all the teachers and students...

"How are we going to carry these bloody things to the Great Hall?" Lizzie asked.

"Lizzie?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"You're a witch."

"Well that is not very nice Lily, I thought you were my– oh, you mean magic?"

"Well done Sherlock," I laughed. We quickly cast spells on the cauldrons so that they would float alongside us to the Great Hall – when we got up there, we remembered the bolted door. Lizzie quickly conjured up a really long banquet table in the Entrance Hall, which kind of barricaded everyone in, and then hundreds of little cups, which we poured some potion into. Soon, every glass had some of the tomato-red potion in it, all we had to do now was to get into the Great Hall.

We opened the door – and the sight that met our eyes was the weirdest thing I'd ever seen. Toddlers were chasing each other round, covered in splattered food – and in the middle of it all, were Rhiannon, Eden and Rebecca, covered head to toe in bits of food that had undoubtedly been thrown in the food fight, looking exhausted.

"LILY! LIZZIE! I am going to KILL you for leaving us!" Eden yelled at us, stomping forward.

"Easy, we have the potion!" I said – gesturing to the table behind us. To avoid a stampede, we managed to get them to form an orderly queue (under some very watchful eyes) and soon, virtually everybody had administered the potion – except James and Sirius.

James and Sirius had decided that they would have a spitting contest. They each had a grape in their mouth and they were trying to see who could spit it furthest. I was quite disgusted, but me and Lizzie managed to round them up, and carry them to the table, where we forced them to drink the potion.

"What on earth happened?" I suddenly heard the familiar voice of Professor McGonagall. I turned round – people were beginning to morph back into their present selves – but unfortunately, they were all still covered in food.

"That food fight was so fun..." I heard a third-year Hufflepuff say.

"Did you see the teachers?" I heard another girl say.

"That was _priceless_!" I heard James say. He, Sirius, Remus and Peter were rolling around on the floor laughing.

"JAMES POTTER!" I bellowed, quickly followed by Lizzie shouting "SIRIUS BLACK!", Rebecca yelling "REMUS LUPIN!" and Eden, not wanting to be left out, roaring, "PETER PETTIGREW!"

Rhiannon was busy hugging Jasper.

They looked scared. They had every reason to be scared, as we chased them up the stairs in the direction of the Gryffindor common room.

:) x Lily Orange x (:

_

* * *

_

Hope you liked the last prank! Please review for the next chapter, which involves James' party, and the shenanigans which goes on there... thank you for reading and if you have any ideas, please tell me how I can fix the email thing :) have a brill weekend,


	22. Let's Party

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: Thank you for all your reviews and comments - my email account finally sorted itself out and brought through all my emails from fanfiction so when I woke up this morning I had 45 emails :) Thank you to xExpectoxPatronumx (thanks especially for your multiple reviewing!), wannabe witch11, lily-james-forevs and vanillabean18 for reviewing; thank you to .snivellus, Talking-Rock and xoxojessicaxoxo for adding my story to their favourites and thank you to littleyellowfish for adding my story to alerts! Hope you enjoy this, it's the party chapter!!!

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-One**

**LETS PARTY!**

The next day was James' birthday. I didn't think, quite frankly, that he deserved the surprise we had planned – but Lizzie convinced me to. Plus, she said that her and Sirius were going to go down to kitchens together – code for having a discrete kissing session in that corridor – and there was no way she was missing that.

We intended on acknowledging the fact it was James' seventeenth birthday – his coming of age – but down playing it, and always changing the subject. That way, he would be flabbergasted when he walked into his surprise party that night!

Being the super-stylish girls we were, we had planned out thoroughly what we would be wearing to his party. Dresses, namely. I had decided that I would wear my forest flower dress that I had for the Masquerade Ball the year before, as it would be perfect for the occasion. Due to this decision, Lizzie picked out her red flapper dress to wear – and then Eden and Rhiannon decided that they might as well go in our dresses we wore for that ball.

Rhiannon tweaked her dress slightly, though. Rhiannon's dress, previously a cream, floor length, halter-neck dress made of lace, had been transformed into a cream lace dress that finished about an inch above the knee, and had a full skirt with layer upon layer of tulle underneath, and an ivory ribbon around the waist to pull it in.

"Rhiannon, that is amazing! Will you do mine?" Eden asked enthusiastically, holding up her midnight blue, long sleeved, floor length silk gown with a silver jewelled belt.

With a few quick flicks of her wand, Rhiannon had turned Eden's dress into something you'd find in a high profile fashion magazine. The skirt of the dress had been shortened dramatically, and had been made into a tulip style skirt, ending a few inches above Eden's knees. The high neckline and long sleeves had been kept in place, along with the silver belt, but the dress was now partly backless, the back of the dress now lowered to starting just above her waist.

"Zat is truly _belle_!" Rebecca exclaimed, seeing the finished product. Rebecca herself, not actually having been to the Masquerade Ball, had bought a dress when we last went to Hogsmeade. She had chosen a periwinkle blue shade, complimenting her ivory skin and pale hair, and a dress that was truly breathtaking – it was strapless, with a silver velvet bow under the bust and then flowed down to her knee, with little tiny sequins sewn into the material which caught the light and shimmered.

"Rebecca, you look beautiful!" I complimented her when she tried the dress on.

It was still the morning, so we put the dresses aside and changed into our regular clothes – blue jeans, a green flowery shirt, green cardigan and black boots for me – and went down to breakfast.

The Marauders were sitting there already. We slid in beside them – the usual seating arrangements. James and Sirius always sat together on one side of the table, and Remus and Peter opposite. I always sat next to James, and Lizzie next to Sirius. Rebecca always sat between Remus and Peter, and Eden on the other side of Remus. Rhiannon always sat beside me, and Jasper, without fail, would join us every mealtime. I liked this little routine – it was hard to believe that we were sat so comfortably with the boys we had once dismissed as being immature and childish. And now we were in love with them!

Well, Lizzie and I were – and I reckoned Rebecca was too. I think Eden had her eyes on someone at the Ravenclaw table, but I didn't mention it.

"Good morning, my petal," he grinned, and kissed me on the cheek. I noticed that he had a fancy watch on his wrist – a wizarding tradition for coming of age.

"Happy Birthday," I said, kissing him on his cheek.

"You are making me feel sick," Sirius commented.

"Excuse you! What about you and Lizzie?" James shot back.

"At least I don't have to watch me and Lizzie snog. I just take part in it – and enjoy it."

Breakfast passed very much the same; nobody really said much regarding the fact it was James' birthday. He didn't seem to have cottoned onto the way that every time he mentioned it, we changed the subject rather abruptly.

It carried on all day, and at five to seven that evening, Peter reminded James that he had promised to help him finish his Transfiguration essay. James reluctantly agreed to go along with Peter, promising he'd be back in about an hour or so.

As soon as the portrait hole closed behind him, we all jumped up. "Who put Peter in charge of distracting James?" I asked inquisitively.

"I did," Sirius replied, "Wormtail would just get in the way otherwise."

"That's nice of you to say," Remus replied sarcastically.

"What? It's true!" Sirius defended himself.

"Right – Remus, Rebecca, Eden and I will go up to the Room of Requirement and get everything ready. Sirius, Lizzie, you go and get the food from the kitchens. Okay?" I organised everybody. They all nodded, and we set off our separate ways out of the common room.

Sirius and Lizzie went off, holding hands and walking very close, in the direction of the kitchens, and we went up to the corridor where the Room of Requirement was. The corridor was deserted, and Remus walked up and down it three times, saying, "I want a place to hold a party for Prongs."

Suddenly, a door appeared, and we entered. Inside, the room had a red carpet leading from the door into the centre of the room, where there was a huge dance floor with a glittering disco ball hanging above it. There were silver lights everywhere, and chairs, tables and sofas surrounding the dance floor. There was a stage, and a music player, and the walls were black, painted with silver stars. Around them hung banners saying, '_Happy Seventeenth Birthday Prongs_!'

"This is perfect!" I cried excitedly.

"We need to make sure somebody is in here at all times so that it doesn't close on us – so if you need to go and get changed or something, and get Prongs' presents, then I'll stay here," Remus offered. We agreed, and said we'd wait for Lizzie.

Lizzie and Sirius were taking rather a long time, but suddenly appeared through the door. They were carrying boxes and boxes of food, but were stopped dead in their tracks by the sight of the room.

"Prongs is going to love this," Sirius remarked, setting the food on the table, and opening the boxes.

Out of the biggest box, came the cake.

It was a huge, iced stag, with James' name at the bottom. Lizzie opened all the others, containing sandwiches, biscuits, little mini pies and bottles of Butterbeer.

"Let's go and get ready," Eden said, and we left Remus and Sirius setting up the stage – no doubt for Sirius' entertainment.

Quickly, we got into our dresses, and did our hair. I left mine down, but curled the ends around my wand and put on a little bit of makeup – once the others were ready, we grabbed the bag of James' presents, and grabbed the people we had invited to the party – Rhiannon and Eden went off to find Jasper, and Lizzie, Rebecca and I rounded up the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and a few other Gryffindors that we were friendly with. We soon had a large trail of people we were leading up the stairs to the Room of Requirement. Unfortunately, we had to pass the library, and just as we were walking past, I saw Peter and James exiting.

"Quick!" I whispered, as we all snuck behind the nearest tapestry. It was a bit squished with all twenty of us behind there, but we heard them as we walked past –

"Thanks for helping me, Prongs," said Peter monotonously.

"'S alright," James replied.

"Do you mind if after we put our books back in the common room, we nip up to the Room of Requirement? Padfoot said he had a great idea for a new prank we could pull and didn't want the girls to hear."

"Okay."

Soon, they were gone, and we all carried on, virtually running up the stairs, to the Room of Requirement. Remus let us in – Rhiannon and Jasper were already there. The stage was set up – alarmingly with a human-sized cake on it.

"Where's Sirius?" I asked, looking around for the trouble-making boyfriend of my best friend.

"Surprise," Lizzie answered quickly. "Lights off?"

I nodded, and everybody assembled on the dance floor. I knew Peter must be coming along with James soon. We were all standing in the darkness, Remus behind the door ready to let them in...

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES!"

James looked absolutely stunned as all the lights turned on. I ran forward, up the red carpet, and kissed him properly, in front of everyone.

It lasted for a minute or so, then we pulled apart, and he grinned happily at me.

"Where's Sirius?" he questioned. I shrugged, but then the lights turned off, and a spotlight suddenly pinpointed the human-sized cake on the stage.

"He didn't..." I muttered.

"PRESENTING... THE ONE AND ONLY... PADFOOT!"

Suddenly, guitar music started in the background, and icing splattered the room as Sirius jumped out of the cake, grinning stupidly. Everybody clapped as he stepped out of it, and began to howl –

"RIDIN' DOWN THE HIGHWAY! GOIN' TO A SHOW!"

Everyone started jumping up and down on the dance floor like an adoring crowd, and me and James joined them, James given the honoured position at the front.

"GETTIN' HAD! GETTIN' TOOK! I TELL YOU FOLKS, IT'S HARDER THAN IT LOOKS!" he continued bellowing, and then stage dived, the crowd of twenty people passing him around as he carried on, this time getting to the climax of the song.

"IT'S A LONG WAY TO THE TOP IF YOU WANNA ROCK AND ROLL!"

He pulled James up on stage with him to join in the singing.

"Sirius is gorgeous even when he's covered in sponge cake," Lizzie mused, making me laugh.

"IF YOU THINK IT'S EASY DOING ONE NIGHT STANDS, TRY PLAYIN' IN A ROCK AND ROLL BAND!" the shouting continued.

"Right, everyone, to celebrate Prongs' birthday, I'm gonna sing another song," Sirius finally said, grinning wildly, "and I'm sure you all know this one, even though it's a muggle song – GIVE IT YOUR ALL!"

The lights were turned off, and then little sparkly red and gold lights twinkled around the stage. It looked truly magical.

"GUESS WHO JUST GOT BACK TODAY? THOSE WILD-EYED BOYS THAT HAVE BEEN AWAY! HAVEN'T CHANGED, HAVEN'T MUCH TO SAY, MAN I STILL THINK THOSE CATS ARE GREAT!" Sirius led everybody. Everybody knew the song – it was one of Sirius' personal favourites thus we had to endure it very often.

"I TOLD THEM YOU WERE LIVING DOWNTOWN! DRIVING ALL THE OLD MEN _CRAZY_!" everyone bellowed, and then all the lights went off and the music stopped.

"Er, what's going on?" Eden asked me.

"I have no idea," I replied anxiously. It was pitch black, and everyone was slightly worried.

"RIGHT EVERYBODYYYY!" Remus yelled. The lights were still not on. "Arm yourselves, and GET READY TO RUMBLE!"

Suddenly, cake was flying everywhere as James and Sirius bellowed, "THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN!"

"This is one party," Rhiannon yelled, as she and Jasper started pelting me with cake. I was rescued by my handsome prince as he sheltered me and started throwing biscuits back at them. I have to say, throwing things at each other was not one of the things on the party agenda – but it was fun.

_

* * *

_

Thanks for reading, please review for the next chapter which involves the commencement of summer for our favourite characters and what they'll be doing... have a great holiday!

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	23. We're All Going On A Summer Holiday

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: Thank you for all the reviews and comments! Thank you to Stephie Cat-Kat, vanillabean18 and sarlovesoccer (thank you for your multiple reviewing!) for reviewing and thank you to Lisa1312 and Little Birdy2 for adding my story to your alert subscriptions! As well I've added a new story which is a fanfic of the Little Mermaid which you might have guessed, if you've read **Lily Evans' Hit List **or seen my profile picture, that I like rather a lot :) it's called **Part Of Your World **and is about all the characters being at school together and Ariel and Eric falling in love. Please check it out and leave a review :)

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

**WE'RE ALL GOING ON A SUMMER HOLIDAY**

July began, and it was soon apparent that we would be starting our last year at Hogwarts in September. I didn't want to leave – and we only had two weeks until we left for the summer. And after the excitement we had had last summer, I couldn't think of anything to live up to it.

I pondered these thoughts over the next few days, and wondered about sending my mother an owl and asking whether everyone could come on holiday with us again – nineteen-year-old Petunia was now engaged to her hippo of a boyfriend and was now moved in with him.

But my thoughts were answered – James came running into the Gryffindor common room and jumped onto the sofa beside me, clutching a letter. I leant on his shoulder as he told me of its contents excitedly.

"My grandparents have invited us to go and stay at their house for three weeks in the holidays!" he cried excitedly.

"Really?" Sirius piped up from across the room – he had been previously occupied with Lizzie, but now was interested.

"Yep. All of us!" James continued.

"That will rock my world," Sirius smiled. I couldn't quite conceive what was so great about James' grandparents' house. It would again be a summer to remember – but what was their house like?

Remus, who was sat on the armchair next to ours, obviously read my thoughts, and whispered to me, "It's a big manor house set in acres and acres of land, with a forest and everything." Wow.

"Wormy won't come. His mother will demand him to Loch Ness or something stupid," Sirius laughed.

"What – Rhiannon, Eden, Lizzie, Rebecca and I are included?" I asked uncertainly.

"Of course – and Jasper, his grandparents are friends with mine," he said, kissing me on the cheek. Rhiannon would be ecstatic then.

*

"So you're spending three weeks staying with a bunch of freaks?" spat my older sister, Petunia. She looked as bony and blonde as ever, and was wearing an unflattering lime green dress and brown sandals. She was talking to me whilst I packed my trunk for James' grandparents' house. I wasn't really sure what to pack, so I was just piling everything in there, including my dresses, many pairs of shoes, five swimsuits, jackets... Petunia, of course, was finding fault with everything.

As I put my forest flower dress in, she turned her nose up, and remarked cattily, "I would have thought that dress a bit low-cut for you, Lily."

I just gritted my teeth and smiled back.

Suddenly, an owl came flying through my open window, and perched itself on the lid of my open trunk. Petunia started screaming, of course, yelling, "VERMIN! VERMIN!"

I recognised it as James' owl, and untied the parchment from its foot, and it affectionately nipped my finger, and settled itself in Venus' cage and drank some of the water.

It said – _Lily, if you want I'll apparate to your house later tonight and apparate with you to my grandparents' house. I suppose I could meet your family too? Send a reply back quickly with my owl. I love you, James xxx_

Did that note just say 'I love you'? It did – it did! I read it over a few times before my brain jumped into gear and I went and asked my dad about him meeting James.

"It'd be nice to meet the boy you've been telling us about constantly for the last two weeks," my dad grinned.

"You'd better not say anything embarrassing!" I warned him as I scribbled a note back to James, and ran back upstairs, giving it to his owl, which flew away directly.

Now I was actually going to be apparating with James, I had to make an effort clothes wise. Petunia had already commented on my cropped jeans, flip flops and t-shirt ensemble, so I quickly hunted through my clothes to find something suitable. I eventually picked out a white summery dress, and a navy blazer-jacket with the locket James had given me. On my feet, I put my favourite green ballet pumps.

I shoved all the rest of my clothes in my trunk (big enough to fit my whole wardrobe in!) and sat on it.

James had written _I love you_. It couldn't quite sink in. I was head over heels for my extremely gorgeous boyfriend and he was undoubtedly one of the most important people in my life. I loved him. There was no question about that.

Petunia marched in. "So, who is this _James_, anyway?" she asked nosily.

"My boyfriend," I answered bluntly. There was no way I would act nice and gracious with her, it was impossible.

"Obviously. What does he look like?" she continued. It was hard to think that Petunia was interested in his appearance when she was planning to marry that walrus at Christmas. A wedding, incidentally, which I was invited to – along with James. Petunia had talked my parents out of making her have me as a bridesmaid, but me and my boyfriend were attending. My other friends weren't allowed to the ceremony, but were invited to the reception at a grand hotel near the Church. Something again my lovely parents were responsible for. They had also insisted on inviting James' parents, and they had accepted. Ceremony and party – Petunia was not best pleased, and neither was that calamitous Vernon, but my parents had put their foot down.

"Sorry?" I said in disbelief.

"Do you have a photo of him, freak?" she asked impatiently. I had packed my photo album, which had the most recent photos of us together, at the bottom of my suitcase. Sirius was going to take loads of photos this summer, but we hadn't had any taken since before my birthday.

"I have one, but it was when we were in first year, on our first day," I said. I didn't want to open my locket and show her, she would mock it, but James had got me another copy, which was framed and on my bedside table. I picked the frame up, and handed it to her.

"He's okay looking, I suppose," she said finally, after scrutinizing the photo intensely for a minute or two.

Boy would she be in for a shock when James turned up. He was no longer a slim, small eleven-year-old boy with sparkling hazel eyes and a cheeky grin. He was now a tall, toned, Quidditch-playing seventeen-year-old with entrancing hazel eyes and an irresistible grin. Much can change in six years.

James did turn up at about half past six in the evening. I saw him emerge from a small group of trees opposite my house, obviously where he had apparated to, and head towards my house. He looked so unbelievably gorgeous – he was wearing a plain white t-shirt and blue jeans, with black Converse trainers. He looked so beautiful, and he was all mine.

He knocked on the door, and before my mum or dad could even get there, let alone Petunia, I raced down the stairs, and opened it.

"James!" I exclaimed, and kissed him on the cheek – I would have kissed him a lot more passionately if it hadn't have been my doorstep and for my parents appearing out of the kitchen door.

"Mum, Dad, this is James," I introduced them, letting go of James' hand as he shook my dad's. My mum smiled happily at him.

"Nice to meet you James, would you like a drink?" Mum asked.

"Yes please, Mrs Evans," he answered politely. My dad led us through to the living room as my mum went to get us drinks – lemonade for them, water for me.

"So James, are you interested in sports?" Dad asked. James' face lit up at the sound of the word 'sport'. James was seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and had been since second year. Ever since he was made Quidditch captain in fifth year, they had never lost a match or the House Cup.

"James is the Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Dad," I cut in. Dad fortunately understood Quidditch – I had explained the rules to him a few summers ago and he was genuinely interested. "He's Seeker on the team. He's never lost a match!"

James squeezed my hand appreciatively. "I love Quidditch, Mr Evans. But recently I have also become interested in football."

My dad grinned at this, and they spoke for a while about football, which I was surprised James knew anything about.

Mum came in with the drinks, and we sipped them and carried on chatting.

I turned to James when Mum and Dad started talking together, and said, "Would you like to meet my sister? Seeing as you and your parents are coming to her wedding in December."

"Okay," he said, a little apprehensively, due to what I had told him about Petunia.

We went into our conservatory, where Petunia was lying across the sofa, reading a magazine. She immediately sat up, when I entered, and her eyes never left James. Thought she'd be surprised – he could rival Sirius in the stakes for good looks.

"Petunia, this is James," I said.

"Why hello, James, pleased to meet you," she uttered in a husky voice that I think was supposed to be a pathetic impression of a sexy and seductive tone. James smirked at this – blatantly recognising Petunia's failure at making her voice sound sexy – and politely said he was pleased to meet her.

I think Petunia had been put under a sad misapprehension when Vernon had told her she was attractive. She was blonde, yes, a quality I know some boys like – for example Sirius, who is going out with Lizzie, a girl with blonde hair. And her eyes were an okay colour, I suppose, but were a bit expressionless. Sometimes, when you look into someone's eyes, they are so beautiful they entrance you and it's like you can see their personality, their hopes and their dreams, glinting away at you in a bright colour. I felt like that when I looked into James' eyes. But Petunia's? No. They were flat, and a bit boring.

"James, what time are your grandparents expecting us?" I asked hurriedly, before we were subjected to any more of Petunia's dire flirting techniques – I really should have told her that talking like a man does not qualify.

"Sometime soon," he winked.

"Well Petunia, it _has_ been lovely, I suppose we'll see you at your wedding in December?" I smiled sweetly.

"Yeah," she replied bluntly. "'Bye James." And she proceeded to give him a flirty little wave. She never ceased to amaze me.

"Goodbye, Petunia," he said, smiling. Petunia practically melted like the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz at this.

We said goodbye to my parents, and James helped me manoeuvre my trunk down the stairs.

"Bloody hell, Lily, what is in here?" he asked.

"Just some clothes, shoes..." I drifted off.

"There's more than clothes and shoes in here, it ways bloody tonnes!" he complained.

I pulled my suitcase as we walked, hand in hand, to the little group of trees which James had apparated into.

"You know Lily," he said, whispering into my ear, "how about a quick moment of passion before we get there?"

"Hmmn, maybe, but I'm sure the others won't appreciate you turning up with my lipstick smudged all over your cheeks," I murmured back.

"Sirius has Lizzie's lippy all over his face every day, I don't think they'll give a damn," he said in a winning seductive voice.

"Alright, I suppose I'll have to succumb to your exquisite charms, Mr Potter," I muttered, leaning in closer.

Little did we know it would take us an hour to get round to actually apparating to his grandparents' house...

_

* * *

_

Hehe, a little Lily and James fluff there... thanks for reading, please review for the next chapter which involves Lily meeting James' grandparents and some more L/J fluff :) have a lovely holiday,

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	24. Potter House

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: Hi! Thanks for your support :) Thanks to MaloryCullen14, wannabe witch11, xExpectoxPatronumx, sarlovesoccer, Rider Arya Svit-Kona, bluesmidge101 and Stephie Cat-Kat - thanks to those who reviewed multiple times! Thank you to PirateNinjaShadow and Tout-De-La-Monde for adding my story to your favourites! I hope you like this chapter...

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

**POTTER HOUSE**

I clasped my hand in James' tightly, my suitcase in his hand, and we focused entirely on the thought of Potter House. I felt the familiar sensation of apparition, and then I looked up, and gasped.

Potter House was the loveliest house ever – it was large, three storeys high, surrounded by trees and flowers, with large Georgian windows and – it just took my breath away.

"So, do you like it?" James asked nervously. I turned to him, and smiled.

"It's so beautiful," I replied – we walked hand in hand, James pulling my trunk along, up the path leading to the house. I couldn't believe that I was spending my summer here! _With James!_ It just kept getting better and better...

The large white front door had big windows in it, looking into the pristine hallway. James opened the door, and we entered.

The house was like nothing I had imagined – tall ceilings, beautiful damask wallpaper in crimson, large paintings in gold frames, pretty furniture with tiny detail on it, vases of flowers everywhere. It sounds garish, but it was perfect.

"I'll let you meet my grandparents first, before I show you your room," James whispered, and we left my trunk by the door.

James led me through the hallway, past large oak doors, to the last one. He pushed it open, and led me into a library room where sunlight was coming in through the large windows, looking out onto the park at the back. In the distance, I could see the crystalline fountain, glinting in the setting sun.

Two people were sat on the comfy-looking armchairs by the fire place – the man looked exceptionally like James, except his black hair was tinged with grey; and the woman had eyes that were unmistakably James' – I'd know those hazel orbs anywhere!

"Gran, Grandad, this is Lily," he said, and we walked forward.

"Well Lily, it is certainly a pleasure to meet you!" James' Grandad said, shaking my hand.

"And I see James certainly didn't exaggerate how pretty you are!" his Gran commented, smiling, and hugged me. In my peripheral vision, I noticed James blushing scarlet.

They were lovely people, and soon James took me to my room. The staircase was grand as well – and he led me up another one, taking us to the top floor. We were walking down the hall, James dragging my suitcase, when we wandered past a room from where a lot of giggling was emitting.

"Lizzie's room. I'm presuming Sirius is in there with her..." he said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

I laughed, and he led me past another door, pointing out where everyone was.

Eden was in the first room on the left, then in the first room on the right was Rebecca, then the next room on the left was Lizzie's, then the next right was Remus (I think we have silently committed to a plan to get Remus and Rebecca together!), then left was Sirius', right was Rhiannon, left was James' room, right was Jasper's, and finally, the last room on the left was mine, next door to James'. He pushed open the door, and we went in.

The room was huge – in the middle was a large bed, covered in loads of silver, white and grey cushions with a silvery duvet. The walls were painted white, and the room was light and airy. There were three doors leading off it – two on the wall to the right of the large, gorgeous window, and one to the left of it.

"Where do the doors go to?" I asked curiously, as James set my trunk down beside the bed.

"These two are an en suite bathroom with a shower and a walk in wardrobe, and this one" – he pointed to the one to the right of the window – "leads to my room," he smiled. I blushed.

"Don't worry Lily, I won't come and spook you in the middle of the night!" he laughed. "I suppose you'll want to unpack? Do you want to walk in the woods with the others later, before dinner? In about half an hour?"

I nodded, and kissed him on the cheek. He grinned bashfully, and left me too it.

Intrinsically nosy, I opened the door leading into James' room slightly. He wasn't in there – the room was pretty much like mine, except it was decorated in pale blue. I noticed he'd hung his Gryffindor scarf around the headboard of the bed, and had stuck a few pictures up beside his bed – there were three in total.

One was of him and Sirius, grinning, thumbs up, beside the lake a few years ago. The second was of all of us together – the Marauders, Lizzie, Eden, Rhiannon, Jasper, Rebecca and I – at the start of sixth year. Sirius and Lizzie hadn't been going out then, and Sirius was looking at Lizzie's smiling face longingly. The third photo, the largest, was of me and James, at my birthday party. The gorgeous, dark haired, hazel eyed Quidditch player and the grinning, green eyed, red head girl.

He was so sweet.

I quickly went back to my own unpacking, hanging up all my clothes in the wardrobe, tying my hair up casually in a loose bun, and making a few adjustments to the room.

My photograph album was placed on top of the chest of drawers, along with my framed photo of Rhiannon, Eden, Lizzie and I in second year. Next to my bed, I placed the photo of James and I at the Masquerade Ball in fifth year. Yes, it had been Lizzie really – but the look on his face, I loved it so much.

Suddenly, the door burst open, and I was knocked onto the bed by an ecstatic Rhiannon. "LILY! You're here!" she squealed excitedly, hugging me tightly.

She was followed by Lizzie and Eden, who joined in the massive group hug, and Rebecca, who wrapped her arms around all of us.

"Girls, oi, Prongs says– ooh, I'm not interrupting anything am I?" I heard the familiar arrogant yet lovable voice of Sirius Black.

"No," Lizzie replied, pretending to frown at him.

"Anyway, Prongs says we're going out into the woods. Sounds fun, eh?" he said, raising his eyebrows in a suggestive manner. Lizzie slapped him on the arm playfully, and walked off, entwining her fingers with his. We followed, joining Remus and Jasper as we descended the stairs.

"Make sure you're back in an hour or so, dinner will be ready then – and we have some news for you then!" James' Grandad said, but refused to say any more when James begged him.

"Pretty please?" he pleaded, batting his eyelashes comically, "pretty please with a badger on top?"

"A badger? Why would I want a badger?" his Grandad replied.

"I don't know, I'm sure you'll find some use for it," James shrugged, and got down on his knees.

"Come on Prongs, let's go," Remus laughed, pulling James up, and we left the house.

*

The woods at Potter House were beautiful – and I wasn't afraid to go in them, unlike the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts. James held my hand, and it felt so right.

I loved him so much.

We had separated into our usual little groups – Sirius and Lizzie were together, at the front, walking extremely close, their hands clasped together and their shoulders constantly brushing. Remus, Rebecca and Eden followed – an inclination of romance between the two former. They kept smiling and giggling with each other, but including Eden in it too. Then it was Rhiannon and Jasper, the lovebirds, constantly gazing into each other's eyes. It was so romantic. And then it was James and I, bringing up the rear.

Somehow, I knew nothing could come between me and him. I had hated him for years – although I believe it to be hate in inverted commas, as I know I fought my growing attraction to him for a while. And sometimes, people can be stupid enough to mistake love for hate.

I had bitterly regretted it when I yelled at him in fourth year. I think I had shown it when I sobbed into Lizzie's shoulder. Back then, he was an irritating boy who was so full of himself that he believed himself invincible. That's what you ascertained if you took James Potter at face value. He was a mischief-maker, who more often than not went against the school rules and dragged other people with him.

Girls had proclaimed him to be charming, smart, funny, gorgeous, utterly irresistible... and I had not seen it. Maybe in order for me to like James Potter, I had to grow up first. Just like he had had to grow up in order for me to like him. But most importantly – he wasn't a person you could take at face value. You couldn't just make presumptions about him, his character, his personality, his thoughts and feelings. You had to know him.

As his friend, I got to know him like a whole different person. And his qualities began to shine through, and I didn't begrudge him the occasional prank, or the random joke. In fact, I began to see him as the person other girls had told me he was. He was charming, most certainly. He could prove that any day. He was smart. He was funny. And he was gorgeous and utterly irresistible.

I had just been stupid, and immature in my own way. Just like I had accused him of being.

_

* * *

_

Thanks for reading, please review for the next chapter which involves meeting some of James and Sirius' old friends, plus we find out what the surprise is! Merry Christmas,

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	25. Old Friends And New Relationships

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: Hello! Thank you to lily-james-forevs, vanillabean18, Stephie Cat-Kat, xExpectoxPatronumx, sarlovesoccer and Freya-Rhianna for reviewing and thank you to .AwwLookTheSkyIsCrying., Bathsheaba and Little-Moony37 for adding my story to your favourites :) This chapter is a biggun so I hope you like it!

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

**OLD FRIENDS AND NEW RELATIONSHIPS**

The walk ended up with Remus, Rebecca and Eden walking back and each of the three couples finding solace behind the large oak trees. By solace, I don't think I need to describe what I am insinuating.

But pretty soon, we found ourselves back at the house, and being ushered into a pretty immense dining room to eat dinner. The walls in this room were covered in damask once again, with many more portraits in gold frames stuck up. I noticed they all moved, like the portraits at Hogwarts. I hadn't a clue who any of them were, but I liked them all the same.

"So, do you like the house?" Mrs Potter asked – by Mrs Potter I mean James' Gran, except I can't keep calling her James' Gran.

"It's amazing," Lizzie said, beaming at them, whilst sipping the vegetable soup. It was lovely and warming, as the air had cooled down much in the evening that day.

Suddenly, James leaped up, much to the amusement of everyone else at the table.

"Er, sorry," he apologised, embarrassed, "but you said you had something to tell us earlier? And you wouldn't except my offer of a badger?"

"Oh yes, I remember," Mr Potter smiled. "Well, your Gran and I decided that it would be nice for you to have something to do whilst you're here, so we bought you some tickets to go and see a play on at the local theatre."

I loved the theatre, and immediately started grinning.

"Wow, what play?" Rhiannon asked, sharing my love for the theatre.

"I think you may know it – it's _Romeo and Juliet_, by William Shakespeare," he replied.

"I love that play so much!" I gasped.

"What's it about?" Sirius asked, exampling his incredible lack of knowledge of anything outside the magical world.

"It's about a young couple who fall in love, except their families hate each other, and they have to run away in secret to be married, and in the end the plan put in place by the friar causes them to kill themselves for their love," Lizzie explained.

"Well _thanks_ for telling me the ending!" Sirius sniffed, and everybody laughed.

"And I invited some of your old friends, James, Sirius," he continued.

"Oooooh, who?" James said in a really high-pitched, girly voice. I laughed.

"Do you remember Tana, from the village?" he said.

"Oh yes," Sirius said, in a distinctly suggestive tone which made Lizzie glare at him.

"I thought _you_ might," Mr Potter winked, "but anyway, she's coming and she's bringing her friend, a boy called Spike?"

"Interesting name," Remus commented.

"But she works in a shop in the village, so you could always go down and see her," Mrs Potter told them, as the roast beef was bought in for the main course.

*

It ended up that only James, Sirius, Lizzie and I went to the village. Rhiannon and Jasper were somewhat preoccupied in a secluded area of the garden, and Eden, Remus and Rebecca wanted to complete a Transfiguration essay. Naturally, James and Sirius had found this hilariously funny – until they were silenced by two steely glowers from their respective girlfriends.

It was only about two miles to the village, so we walked – even though Sirius offered to drive us there on his motorbike. We politely declined, preferring to keep our lives with us.

"So is Tana a witch?" I asked James.

"No... but she knows about us," James replied.

"Whoever told her is breaking the law!" I exclaimed a little over dramatically, but concerned, nonetheless.

"Yes, Lily, I know, but her sister is a witch. Muggle-born, and Tana didn't have the magical abilities like her. You know Eleanor Bloom in Hufflepuff, the year above us? That's her sister. She's not bitter about it, more interested than anything," James told me.

"So a bit like me and my sister? Except she's not malicious and covetous with a distinct lack of flirting skills and a horsy face?" I said.

James laughed heartily. I loved it when I made him laugh.

"No, she most _definitely _isn't malicious, covetous with a distinct lack of flirting skills and a horsy face," he clarified, amused.

"So you can vouch for the fact she doesn't have a distinct lack of flirting skills?" I teased, smiling.

"I can't, but Sirius can," he grinned.

"Another one of his conquests?" I asked.

"Yep. They went out for about three hours, if I remember rightly. When we were twelve – it was for about three hours before he got a Christmas card from Lizzie, and then he dumped her for Lizzie, thinking it was practically a declaration of love... except the bloody idiot didn't get with her until last Christmas, four years overdue!" James chuckled.

"He was such a womanizer!" I said sharply.

"Hmmn, seems to have given it up now," James pointed out.

"Yeah, they do seem smitten," I said, watching Lizzie and Sirius walking in front of us, her leaning into his shoulder and he stroking her hair.

"And I know another couple who are smitten," he said.

"Oh, who?"

"Does this answer?" he asked, and then kissed me.

The village was very pretty, and James and Sirius led us to the shop where this Tana was working. It was a kind of vintage clothes shop – I noticed a twenties flapper dress much like Lizzie's on one of the mannequins in the window, and a fifties style full skirted dress patterned with giant pink roses.

Inside, the shop was a bit like a treasure trove – bits of jewellery snaked the walls, interesting clothes stimulated attention and there was a glittering mirror ball hanging from the ceiling. It was a bit like a cross between a disco and the costume department at the theatre.

"Ohmigosh! James, Sirius?" came a voice from the desk. A tall, blonde girl with big eyes was grinning at the two boys.

"It's us, Tana!" James said. Tana came out from behind the desk. She was dressed so cool – much like the clothes in the shop. She was wearing a wine red tunic dress with a wide black belt pulling it in at the waist, over black tights. On her feet were a pair of dark grey round-toed high heels made of some kind of suede fabric, with a large rose fashioned out of the same fabric on the toe. Around her wrists were numerous silver, grey, red and black bracelets, and around her neck was a long silver pendant with a large heart charm on the end. Her long blonde hair was tied into a messy bun, with some tendrils coming out at the front, framing her face. Her lips had been coated with a sugary pink lipstick, complementing the wine red of the dress, and her eyes had been lined with black pencil. She was striking – she was beautiful.

She hugged James – James was tall, around six foot two, but Tana must have been around five foot nine or something because she wasn't that much smaller than him, and with her heels on, almost reached his height. She hugged Sirius – who was about an inch or two taller than James, and did look petite next to his height.

"Tana, there's two people we'd like you to meet," Sirius said – he took Lizzie's hand, and pulled her forward. "This is my girlfriend, Lizzie."

"Hi," Tana said, and she hugged Lizzie. She was so friendly. Lizzie hugged her back, also an incredibly pleasant person, and smiled.

"Hi, I love what you're wearing!" Lizzie complemented. I saw the awe in Lizzie's eyes. She had an eye for fashion – and was an avid follower of Muggle fashions, but made them a style all of her own. Today, she was wearing a red polka dot shirt, and a high-waisted red skirt which came to about an inch or two above her knee, that flared out slightly. Over the top was a slouchy dark grey cardigan, with some silver pins on it, matching the silver charm bracelet around Lizzie's wrist, a present from me and Rhiannon for her sixteenth birthday last year. She was wearing a pair of the coolest shoes ever – they were black, but with little red and white bits of glitter shimmering on them. Fashion-wise, Lizzie and Tana were matched.

"And this is _my_ girlfriend, _my precious_, Lily," James introduced me with a note of possessiveness in his voice, which I loved.

"Hi, it's really nice to meet you both," she smiled, hugging me.

I felt inferior to Tana's fashionable exterior. What I had believed to be a suitably nice outfit now looked like dragon dung compared to what she was wearing. Seeing as, although it was August, it wasn't particularly warm, I had put on my charcoal skinny jeans, a blue checked shirt which was open to my waist with a white vest top underneath it, and a studded black leather belt around my hips. I had shoved my feet into a pair of navy blue Converse – my favourite comfy shoes. I suppose compared to my flaming red hair, the blue contrasted nicely.

While Tana, James and Sirius gossiped about old times – I noticed the three hour relationship was not mentioned – Lizzie and I looked around the shop.

I had an armful of things to try on, and when I went to ask Tana if I could, Tana beamed and said, "Yes, of course – but I have a really nice sequined silver dress, sixties style, in the back room. Just come in. I reckon you will love it – it'll look really good on you!"

I smiled, and Tana produced the dress, which was covered in so many sequins it looked like fish scales – in a good way, of course!

I took to the changing rooms, and every time I tried on an outfit, they all showered me with complements, and Tana found random bits of jewellery and accessories to go with them – it was like she was a professional stylist or something!

"So Tana, where do you go to school?" Lizzie asked, interested. I could hear them speaking.

"I'm starting college in September, then I'll go to university," she told Lizzie, playing with her endless amounts of bracelets.

"What to study?"

"Geography. I want to travel the world some day, so I'd better know something about it!"

"No way! I loved Geography in primary school – I love travelling too!"

"I really want to go to the Caribbean, but I also want to go to Paris... Rome... New York... Cairo... Sydney..." she drifted off dreamily.

"Guys, I don't think I can come out wearing this dress, it's a bit short!" I called out, surveying myself in the mirror. It reminded me of when I looked into the mirror when I first went to Diagon Alley.

"I don't mind!" James replied – I could practically hear him grinning wickedly.

"We all know you wouldn't," Lizzie said. Then I heard a kind of injured grunt. "Lily, if you didn't know, I just elbowed him."

"Thank you," I replied curtly.

"Just show us anyway, Lily," Lizzie told me.

I exited the dressing room, wearing the sequined dress. It had a high neckline, and was sleeveless – and also came down to the tops of my thighs, showing off all of my legs.

"Whoa baby!" Sirius smirked.

"Oi, mate, that is my girlfriend you're drooling over," James said indignantly.

"Sorry mate, but she looks bloody hot," Sirius announced. Lizzie looked at him in disgust.

"Yes she does, but I'll say it, thank you! Lily you look abso_bloody_lutely gorgeous," James commented.

I smiled at him, amused.

"I think it's too short," I declared, smoothing it down.

"I don't," James offered.

"Do we need a reprisal of my elbowing you?" Lizzie asked sweetly. Tana laughed.

"Perhaps if you wore it with tights?" Tana said.

"Still be too short," I said apologetically.

"We could always..." Lizzie drifted off.

"What?" I asked, intrigued.

"Lengthen it slightly..." she said. I got what she meant.

"You're not seventeen, though, yet!" I protested. Tana, James and Sirius looked completely bewildered.

"You are! So are Sirius and James!" Lizzie said.

"Okay. I'll lengthen it. Tana, I love the dress. Can I have it?" I asked. She looked confused, but smiled nonetheless.

"I'll buy it for you, my petal," James offered.

"James, you can't buy my dress for me," I smiled.

"Yeah I can!" he complained.

"Do you have twenty five–" I began.

"Galleons?" he grinned, "of course."

"–pounds," I finished.

"Pounds? What the bloody hell is a pou– oh, you mean muggle money? Er, no, I haven't," he said sheepishly. Sirius found this rather funny.

"Don't worry, I'll pay for it," I said, and he hugged me.

"You are so wearing that to the theatre," he whispered in my ear, and kissed my cheek.

"Ew, _Prongsy_!" Sirius moaned. "That is disgusting!"

"Come off it, Padfoot," James said, rolling his eyes at his friend.

"I hear you're coming to see _Romeo and Juliet_ with us," Lizzie said, striking up conversation.

"Yeah, I'm bringing my friend, yeah, well, he's my friend, Spike," Tana replied.

"Cool," Lizzie replied.

"Tana, we're sorry, we'd better be going... we'll be back tomorrow, okay?" Sirius said, and hugged her. I watched Lizzie's expression at this. Being the girlfriend of the previously scandalous womanizer had taught her to be patient, as James had told me, old habits die hard. And although Sirius had become accustomed to being a one-woman man, sometimes I noticed Lizzie tensed slightly.

"Bye!" we all said, and exited the shop, me carrying the bag with the sequinned dress in.

Sirius and James went back to see Tana the following morning, whereas me and Lizzie stayed behind with the others – making a few alterations to my dress. I performed a lengthening spell so that it now reached three inches above my knees, as short as I was willing it to go.

At lunchtime, they came home and announced that Tana – and her friend Spike – were going swimming in the reservoir just north of the village that afternoon. So, believing it a good idea, we all dressed in our swimming costumes – me in my favourite red polka dot bikini – and put on some looser clothes on top.

I raced into James' room, wearing a long, loose shirt over my bikini and my feet in flipflops, for a quick moment of passion before we left.

He made all my worries dissolve away, and whenever I was with him I felt safe.

"Lily," he whispered in my ear.

"Yes, James?" I replied, my face buried into his shoulder, which smelt of his signature scent – I couldn't quite work out what it was, but it was uniquely his and whatever it was I loved it.

"I love you," he murmured.

"I love you too," I smiled, and we embraced.

*

At the reservoir, Tana came rushing over. Today, she had on an over-sized band t-shirt (AC/DC), with little denim shorts and strappy gladiator sandals, and a big set of colourful beads around her neck. Her hair was down, and casually wavy, and her eyes were absent of yesterday's kohl eyeliner, and framed by long eyelashes.

"Hey guys!" she said happily, beaming at us. James and Sirius quickly introduced her to Remus, Jasper, Rhiannon, Rebecca and Eden and we all raced towards the water.

"Last one in is a pile of dragon dung!" Sirius yelled, as he picked Lizzie up and lifted her, like a fireman, over his shoulder. She squealed in laughter, and Sirius raced into the water. Our pile of towels and bags lay forgotten by where we'd met Tana.

"Come on Lily!" James screamed, he already had hold of my hand but he lifted me like a bride and carried on sprinting towards Sirius – beating Remus, Rebecca and Eden by a mile.

Soon we were all in, splashing each other, when Sirius suddenly declared, "You know, I think it's time for a song."

"Oh Merlin, Sirius, no!" Lizzie screeched dramatically.

"What's so wrong with Sirius' singing?" Tana asked me, confused.

"Well, let's put it this way – he is no Aretha Franklin," I replied. I noticed a boy came over to her, and smiled.

She beamed back at him. "Lily, this is Spike."

"How do you do?" I smiled at him. He was tall, with spiky brown hair and a tanned body.

"Listen everyone! I am going to sing us all a song in honour of the fact that it is summer, and we are free of school, and... and... er... quite frankly, I just wanna sing a bloody song!" Sirius finished.

"Sing it! Sing it!" chanted James and Remus.

"Alright, alright, this is one for my one and only Lizzie, who is, er, not called Rosalie, but is pretty damn amazing – and I'll substitute her for Rosalie, who is in fact nobody I know!" Sirius grinned, and Lizzie smiled bashfully as he put his arm around her – but was also slightly bewildered by Sirius' nonsensical explanation.

"Get ready for the screeching..." I whispered to Tana, who giggled.

"SHE'S QUITE A MEDIATOR! SMOOTHER OPERATOR YOU WILL NEVER SEE!" Sirius began, bellowing. Luckily, we were the only people at the reservoir, and were standing in it, but I bet they could hear us in the village with the loudness of Sirius' voice.

"SHE KNOWS MUSIC! I KNOW MUSIC TOO, YOU SEE! SHE GOT THE POWER! THE TEEN QUEEN LI-IIII-ZZIE! LI-IIII-ZZIE!" he yelled, drawing out the syllables in Lizzie's name to make it fit.

"Okay... let's bring some music to the waves, Marauder style!" James caterwauled. I looked at him cautiously – his voice wasn't as bad as Sirius, but it wasn't very good...

"I GOT THIS FEELING INSIDE!" James shrieked.

"_CAN'T EXPLAIN_!" Remus chorused in the background.

"A CERTAIN KIND!" Sirius yelled, clapping his hands in the air, which Spike, Tana, Rhiannon, Eden, Rebecca, Lizzie and I joined in with.

"DIZZY IN THE HEAD AND I'M FEELING BLUE!" Remus sang, quite tunefully for the Marauders.

"I KNOW WHAT IT MEANS, BUT..." Sirius sang in a voice that could only be likened to a cat being strangled.

"CAN'T EXPLAIN! I THINK IT'S LOVE! TRY TO SAY IT TO YOU! WHEN I FEEL BLUE!" James bellowed.

"OI, you lot!"

We all spun round, to see a group of teenagers, perhaps a little older than us. There were three boys and two girls – the girls dressed in skimpy bikinis and covered in makeup, and the boys looking distinctly disgruntled.

"Yeah?" James yelled back.

"Could you keep the bloody noise down? We're trying to relax here and you're making it bloody difficult!" one of the boys yelled aggressively.

"Sorry, mate," Sirius said apologetically. "What's your name?"

"My name?" the boy repeated incredulously, looking as if he thought revealing his name would make Sirius and James chop his head off or something.

"Yep, dude," James rolled his eyes.

"I'm Malcolm," the boy replied.

"And your _lovely_ friends?" James asked.

I noticed the slutty girls blushing at this – how dare they blush at my boyfriend?

"Loretta, Dennis and Daphne," he replied.

"Well we're awfully sorry, Malcolm, Loretta, Dennis and Daphne," Sirius shouted in an apologetic voice.

We turned back to each other, we were standing in a huge circle in the water.

"Is anyone thinking what _I'm_ thinking?" Sirius grinned.

"Well, your brain is very limited Padfoot so I'm guessing... it either concerns: girls, food, pranks?" Remus said innocently.

"Hey! That's so presumptuous!" Sirius growled.

"And accurate?"

"Well, yes, but that's not the point. Who feels like giving our lovely friends a lovely show?" Sirius said mischievously.

"I think we should," Spike agreed.

"Okay then..." Jasper said, and we all nodded.

"PEOPLE TRY TO PUT US DOWN! _TALKIN' BOUT MY GENERATION_! JUST BECAUSE WE GET AROUND!" we all bellowed in unison, laughing our heads off, tears streaming down our faces, when we saw the looks on the faces of Malcolm and his friends.

"YEAH BABY!" James hollered.

Swimming in the reservoir was fun – we had even managed to annoy somebody else with our admittedly tuneless singing. It didn't get much better than that.

One thing I observed was that Sirius was flirting with Tana. A lot. It wasn't as full on flirtation as when he was with Lizzie, but it was really weird. Lizzie seemed to have noticed it too.

"Prongs! Race you back to Potter House!" Sirius roared, much to the annoyance of Malcolm and his no-brained friends, "grab you're floozy and we'll run!"

_Floozy_? I really questioned what went on in his mind.

James immediately grabbed me, holding me like a bride, and began to run.

"James!" I squealed.

"Yes, my petal?" he grinned, looking over his shoulder at Lizzie and Sirius who were quickly gaining on us.

"I'm still wearing only a bikini!" I said, blushing.

"I seriously don't mind!" James replied audaciously.

As soon as we were on Potter turf (before Sirius and Lizzie, may I add) we cheered loudly and James lifted me above his head like a trophy. I dreaded to think what other people would say if they saw us – a tall, black haired boy in long shorts holding a red-haired girl above his head who was wearing only a red polka dot bikini – and an approaching couple, the boy dressed like the first but with long, curly, dark brown hair carrying a blonde girl wearing a flowery teal bikini.

"Padfoot, me and my petal are going for a walk," James grinned.

"Don't worry, I have a mission," Sirius winked, and grabbing Lizzie's hand ran off to the others, including Tana and Spike who had caught up with us.

"What on _earth_ was that about?" I asked, very confused at this point.

"Haven't the foggiest. That boy's brain works in mysterious ways!" James replied, equally as perplexed as me. "Shall we walk?"

I nodded.

"Come now, Mr Potter," I smiled at him.

"Okay, Mrs Pott– I mean, Miss Evans," he corrected himself, mortified. I blushed involuntarily.

_

* * *

_

Thanks for reading! Please review for the next chapter which involves some drama at the theatre, on and off stage! I hope you liked the songs in this chapter -

"Rosalie" _by the phenomenal band that is Thin Lizzy (1978) and _"My Generation" _by The Who (1965) and _"I Can't Explain" _by The Who (also 1965)! Merry Christmas,_

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	26. I Want You To Want Me

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: ONE MORE SLEEP TO GO :D Thank you to shroomy-eyes, Stephie Cat-Kat, bluesmidge101, wannabe witch11, vanillabean18, sarlovesoccer, .limits111, PirateNinjaShadow, xExpectoxPatronumx, Lisbry and lily-james-forevs for reviewing and thank you to Lisbry, PirateNinjaShadow and shroomy-eyes for adding my stories to your alert subscriptions! I hope you like this chapter, I'm not sure about it but I had to have a slight bit of drama because we can't have all plain sailing :) Have a very merry Christmas!!!!!!!

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

**"I WANT YOU TO WANT ME"**

We had all relocated to Rhiannon's room to get ready for the play. When she had managed to tear herself away from Jasper, she fixed our clothes for us.

Rebecca was wearing a pale blue strapless dress that came down to her knees in a kind of shimmery fabric which glittered in the light. Her hair was knotted in a bun, held by a beautiful silver hairclip, and on her feet she had strappy silver high heels.

Rhiannon was wearing a scarlet tunic top with beads embroidered onto it, with black skinny jeans. She had an oversized grey clutch bag and grey heels and her hair was down and straight. She had finished performing magic on Eden's dress, a mint green floaty creation that Eden had paired with shoes in a similar shade of green and a glittery silver necklace.

Tana, who we had invited to get ready with us, was wearing a midnight blue mini dress with long sleeves made of satin. On her feet were black ballet pumps, and she had outlined her eyes with kohl, and her lips were painted red. She looked striking, especially with her hair pulled back softly into a ponytail.

Rhiannon had changed the colour of Lizzie's previously red flapper dress – due to the fact that Lizzie still wasn't seventeen yet, but only a few more days – to an inky purple, and had transfigured an old black jumper into a pair of sky-high heels in purple. I had plaited her hair and curled the ends with my wand.

I was wearing my silver sequined dress with flat silver shoes, my hair left long and flowing.

"I tink zat we are ready!" Rebecca declared, and we giggled, and left the room. The Marauders, plus Jasper and Spike, were waiting for us downstairs.

"Where the bloody hell are they?" I heard Sirius growl. There sounded to be people pacing at the bottom of the stairs.

We descended the stairs, and received looks of admiration from our respective partners – Tana and Spike, Rhiannon and Jasper, Sirius and Lizzie, James and I and Remus with Rebecca and Eden, who had not yet formed a couple out of the three.

"You look beautiful," James whispered in my ear, and we locked out hands together, smiling.

Mr Potter knew, somehow, how to drive. I knew Sirius did too but there was no way we were going to see _Romeo and Juliet_ on a motorbike where we might probably lose our lives, which may possibly have been the case if Sirius was driving.

As we got into the car – all eleven of us – we noticed it had been magically enlarged so that we could fit seven in the back and four in the front.

The ride to the theatre was quite scenic, and I was definitely excited about seeing the play. We were in the back, Spike, Tana, Sirius, Lizzie, Eden, James and I. I noticed Sirius kept putting his hand on Tana's knee, disgruntling Lizzie a lot.

People were milling around the entrance to the theatre, a historical building that stood out in the street as being beautiful.

"You know, I'm actually quite excited about seeing this play," Sirius commented as we entered the foyer.

"Really?" Lizzie asked, her eyebrows raised sceptically and her voice full of hope.

"Yeah, Tana told me _all_ about it," he said suggestively, glancing at Spike meaningfully, who automatically looked annoyed.

Lizzie frowned, but followed Sirius to the desk where we all had to hand over our tickets.

"Tickets, please," the ticket lady asked, a petite brunette wearing an olive suit and a name badge that declared her name to be Tricia. She looked reasonably young, and very happy when she saw the assortment of boys before her.

"Here you go," James grinned.

"Thank you," Tricia the ticket lady replied flirtatiously. Tricia the ticket lady then took ages to punch a hole through the tickets so we could actually go into the theatre, seemingly distracted by flirting with Sirius, James, Remus, Jasper and Spike, much to the annoyance of the girls present.

"So, are these girls your sisters or cousins?" Tricia smiled, showing perfectly straight teeth.

"Er, no," Remus shook his head, oblivious to her flirting. She reminded me of Petunia, except Petunia wasn't wearing an olive suit and didn't work as a ticket lady at the theatre.

"This is my girlfriend," James and Jasper said simultaneously, protectively putting their arms around us. I noticed Sirius didn't join in here. He nudged Tana and grinned. Lizzie scowled.

"Oh, right, well, here you go. Enjoy the play," Tricia said, handing back the tickets quickly, "especially you, handsome." This crude comment was directed at Sirius, who grinned.

"Right back at you, babe," he said, and then stalked off in the direction of the theatre doors.

"What has got into him?" Lizzie whispered, looking as if she was about to burst into tears.

We took our seats in the theatre along one row – Spike sat next to Tana, who sat next to Sirius, who sat next to Lizzie (but appeared to be ignoring her in favour of Tana, making both Lizzie and Spike incalculably jealous), who sat next to me, I was sitting next to James, who was sitting beside Remus, who was sitting beside Rebecca, who was sitting beside Eden, who was sitting beside Rhiannon, who was sitting beside Jasper.

The lights dimmed.

The curtains opened, and someone came on stage.

The play was really good, and romantic. As it came to the balcony scene, Romeo was spouting amorous words to Juliet, Sirius arrogantly leaned across Lizzie and me, and said to James, "Yeah, Tana doth teaches the torches to burn bright!"

Lizzie looked furious – and she did something she had never, ever done before.

She slapped Sirius.

"Sirius Black, you are the most _heartless_, _ignorant_, pig-headed prat I know. I can't believe I love you," she sobbed, and ran out of the theatre.

"Holy Merlin," Sirius said, his face absent of his usual foolhardy grin, and his eyes sad.

"Padfoot, you'd better go after her mate," James said.

"She'll yell at me!" Sirius said in a frightened voice.

"Sirius, go after her _now_. It's your stupid flirting which has annoyed her and your complete ignorance of the fact she is your girlfriend and sitting right next to you!" I growled, and Sirius got up, and followed her.

_

* * *

_

_Sirius Black_

* * *

I was worried now. Lily had a valid point – but I hadn't been flirting because I fancied Tana. I had my reasons for doing it – and unfortunately had not explained them to Lizzie.

I admit, I was a pig-headed prat. Especially as I didn't tell Lizzie what I was doing.

As I ran out of the theatre, thoughts ran through my head like there was a bloody marathon going on. I couldn't see Lizzie anywhere. All I could see was Tricia the ticket lady grinning at me, but I ignored her, much to her aggravation. Ha, Tricia the ticket lady, stuff you. I needed to win back my girlfriend.

I had been flirting with Tana to make Spike jealous. Tana had confided in me, when we went to see her the morning after we took Lizzie and Lily to meet her, and I had told her that I had a brilliant plan to make him realise just how much he liked her. James didn't know that – he was too interested in trying to pick out a Christmas present for Lily, despite the fact it was the summer.

Tana thought I had told Lizzie about this. But, I kind of forgot.

Suddenly, I noticed Lizzie sitting on a chair behind a huge green plant. Her inky purple dress stood out a mile – her head was in her hands and she was sobbing. Her high heels were discarded beside her chair, and she looked in pieces.

"Lizzie?" I whispered, approaching her cautiously.

She looked up immediately. Her face was stained with tears, her blue eyes watery and glistening in the lighting.

"Lizzie?" I repeated.

"I'm not stupid, Sirius. Which is perhaps why, therefore, I am not completely oblivious to the fact that you have ignored me for virtually all of the evening and have been flirting outrageously with Tana," she said, in a voice that was surprisingly calm.

"Lizzie, I can explain!" I pleaded.

"Oh, can you now? Well I don't want to _bloody_ hear it," she snarled.

"Please..."

"NO!" she bellowed. She stood up, looking quite menacing. "I WILL NOT LISTEN TO YOU, SIRIUS BLACK! HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN THAT I AM YOUR GIRLFRIEND? WELL, YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT REMEMBERING IT NOW BECAUSE WE'RE NO LONGER TOGETHER!"

"Lizzie, no..."

"I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!"

"Please, just listen to me," I knelt down to the floor in front of her.

"GO AWAY."

"Lizzie..."

"DO NOT 'LIZZIE' ME. JUST GO AWAY, SIRIUS! I THOUGHT YOU HAD LEFT YOUR STUPID WOMANIZING REPUTATION BEHIND, BUT APPARENTLY NOT! AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN THINK TO FLIRT WITH SOME OTHER GIRL WHEN YOUR GIRLFRIEND WASN'T THERE – YOU ACTED LIKE THAT IN FRONT OF ME! HOW DOES THAT MAKE ME FEEL?" she cried. I was aware people in the theatre could probably hear us.

_

* * *

_

_James Potter_

* * *

We could hear Lizzie shouting from the foyer. Lily looked rather upset, so I whispered in her ear –

"Shall we go and see if they're okay?"

Lily nodded, and I grasped her hand as we left the theatre. We entered the foyer, to see Lizzie and Sirius by a big green plant. Lizzie had tears streaming down her face and had screamed at Padfoot so much that her voice was hoarse. Sirius was knelt down on the floor, looking as if he was pleading.

"No," I heard Lizzie saying, over and over.

Padfoot looked slightly heartbroken. Lizzie didn't look too good herself.

"I'm going," Lizzie suddenly said, and picked up her shoes, and walked out of the door.

"Oh Merlin," Lily uttered.

"Now that was a bit of an over-reaction!" I commented, and Lily turned to look at me incredulously.

"A bit of an over-reaction? Did you not see the way he was throwing himself at Tana and Tricia the bloody ticket lady?" she said, sounding slightly angry. I was skating on thin ice.

"Yeah, but she didn't need to stomp out!" I defended myself.

"Oh Merlin, you are so like him. Do us a favour, and sort yourselves out. You obviously have no concept of how your actions impact on others," Lily spat her words maliciously, pulled her hand out of my grip, and ran after Lizzie.

Bloody Merlin.

* * *

_Lily Evans_

* * *

I went to bed, sleeping on the floor next to Lizzie in my room. We were both upset. Her, because of Sirius' behaviour. Me, because I had accidentally just dumped my more perfect than perfect boyfriend because of something trivial he had said.

I woke up the next morning, to see Lizzie had disappeared. Knowing her, she'd probably gone for a walk in the grounds to clear her head. It was one of her habits.

Unfortunately, it was one of her habits that was identical to Sirius', so no doubt she'd probably stumble across him if she was out walking.

I remembered James' shocked face as I shouted at him. It wasn't something I had intended to do, but James was being totally ignorant of Lizzie's feelings.

I heard a knock at the door. Wondering who it was, I pretended to be asleep as the person came in. It was James. I half opened my eye just so I could see him. He was his usual gorgeous self, messy black hair, sparkling hazel eyes, tall and athletic. He looked sad. I hardly ever saw James looking sad – he was always grinning.

He noticed the fact that I was 'asleep' – I didn't correct him as he sat down on my bed and stroked my hair out of my face.

"Lily..." he whispered.

I couldn't say no to him. My eyes snapped open, and I turned to face him.

"Yes?"

"Let's stop fighting, it's pointless. It's Sirius and Lizzie's argument, not ours," James said bluntly.

"So are you going to say sorry for what you said?" I asked.

"No. It was my opinion," he said.

"But you totally disregarded Lizzie's feelings," I told him hotly.

"Lily..."

"James, no."

For once, he listened, and left my room. I began to cry. This was something so trivial and James had been right. But I couldn't swallow my bloody pride so now we were apart. Something I was not happy about.

Three hours later I stumbled down to lunch, wearing a pair of blue jeans and a grey round-neck jumper and a silver bracelet. I looked a bit dishevelled, to say the least, and I took my seat next to Lizzie, who was looking refreshed due to her morning walk but upset.

Mr and Mrs Potter seemed to have noticed something was up, but were kind enough not to delve into it, which I was thankful for.

As we were eating our lunch of pasta, nine owls came swooping through the window and landed in front of each of us.

"Hogwarts letters!" Rhiannon said excitedly.

We each untied the letters from the owl, and I noticed that mine was slightly bulkier than usual, as was James'.

"Moony, are you a prefect again?" Sirius asked lazily as he cast his eyes over his Hogwarts letter disinterestedly.

"Yes," Remus replied happily.

"Well done!" Rebecca congratulated him, and hugged him in front of everybody. Remus blushed, Sirius seemed to have a coughing fit sounding as though he was trying to mask laughter.

"Oh Merlin," I breathed as I saw what fell out of my letter.

In front of me, on the table, was a Head Girl badge.

"What's the matter, Lily?" Lizzie asked, who was a prefect for Gryffindor again.

"Oh Merlin, oh Merlin," I just repeated.

"I think something is up," Rhiannon said concernedly, and took my letter from me. It only took a few seconds for her to shout,

"Bloody hell Lily!" then she looked up sheepishly, and apologised for her language, "you're Head Girl!"

"I'M HEAD GIRL!" I yelled, the realisation hitting me and I jumped up, and did a little victory dance, much to the amusement of the rest of the people there. In my dance, I turned round and saw the smiling faces looking at me, and sat down shamefacedly. "Sorry," I muttered, my cheeks reddening.

"PRONGS!" Sirius suddenly bellowed. "NOOOOO!"

"What's up?" Eden asked.

"James..." Sirius gulped, "has been made .... HEAD BOY!"

"Well done, James," Mr and Mrs Potter chorused, and James blushed.

_My James was Head Boy_! I whooped for joy inside as I remembered that the Head Boy and Girl get a separate common room and rooms in a different tower, spend _a lot_ of time in each other's company, and patrol together. And I would be doing all this with my James!

And then it hit me that I was in a mood with James and was determined not to reconcile until he apologised.

"You do not know what this means!" Sirius yelled, a tad overdramatically – although he was resorting back to his usual melodrama. "James will have to... _obey the rules_!"

He said this in a voice that implied obeying the rules to be the spawn of the devil or something, which was quite comical. Although Sirius was cracking all these jokes, his eyes weren't as bright and alive as usual. I deduced that this was down to his problems with Lizzie, who was staring at her cereal with great interest.

Breakfast finished, and so we wouldn't have to talk to James and Sirius, we walked down into the village to the vintage clothes shop – we needed some serious retail therapy and I also wanted to talk to Tana about everything that had gone on with her and Sirius. I was pretty sure Tana was the innocent party in all of this – I mean, this was _Sirius_ we were talking about – but I just wanted to know what was happening. And seeing as Lizzie wouldn't ask her, I had the duty of doing it.

As we entered the shop, I saw Tana was sat on the desk, Spike stood next to her, sharing a quick kiss. Although quick, it looked passionate, so we exited the shop rapidly, hoping desperately that they hadn't seen us.

Whilst we left them too it, we nipped across the road to the ice cream shop, and bought two large chocolate ice creams with sauce and chocolate drops on them, and sat on a bench by the old war memorial eating them. We sat in comfortable silence, and when we had finished them, we re-entered the shop, making sure to be loud as we entered so as to warn them of our coming.

Luckily, Spike was stacking a shelf on the opposite side of the shop to Tana, who was standing at the desk, organising a display of jewellery.

"Lily, Lizzie!" she exclaimed happily when she saw us. Then she noticed Lizzie's downtrodden face, and my serious expression. Lizzie quickly drifted off to examine a rack of t-shirts, as I advanced forward to the cash desk.

"Tana... what was going on between Sirius and you? I hate to be so blunt, but..." I asked her anxiously.

"Absolutely nothing. Why?" she replied.

"You haven't heard?" I questioned her.

"About what?"

"Lizzie and Sirius – Lizzie broke up with him because he was flirting so outrageously with you," I told her. Her face suddenly dropped.

"Oh bloody hell," she cursed. "He didn't tell her, did he?"

"Tell her what?"

Tana eyed Spike anxiously. "Could you follow me into the back room, Lily? I don't want Spike to hear..."

I nodded, and followed her. What on earth could have happened between her and him that couldn't warrant being overheard by Spike?

She gestured for me to sit down on a squishy purple chair between two boxes full of clothes, as she began to tell me.

"You know Spike? Well, I've liked him for ages. Since forever. And this summer – well we've been getting really close, and I had the inclination that he liked me, but he never actually told me. I told Sirius this one of the days he and James came down to the village to see me. And Sirius told me exactly how to make him ask me out," she said.

"And how's that?" I asked, remembering that Sirius' romantic knowledge wasn't exactly the best advice to follow.

"Make him jealous. He said he'd flirt with me, to make Spike invidious of the attention he was giving me, and then Spike would definitely ask me out. And it's worked. Spike came into the shop this morning, and said that he had something he just had to do, and he kissed me. I was so pleased," Tana filled me in.

"Hang on, Sirius said he would flirt with you even though he was going out with Lizzie? They went out for eight months! It's the longest Sirius has ever been faithful – his record before that was about two weeks!" I cried.

"He said he would explain it all to Lizzie when I expressed concerns over their relationship being threatened by his little plan. So I believed him, and honestly thought he had told her. But obviously he didn't – I was surprised that she would have let him do it so easily, though," Tana said.

"Oh dear. He didn't remember to tell her – I tell you, that boy has the memory span of a goldfish," I said.

"He loves her, you know," Tana told me, "told me so that morning."

"Hmmn, he is very devoted," I said.

"James loves you too," Tana also said.

"I know. Unfortunately, I've just broken up with him."

"Why? I thought you two were like lovebirds!"

"Well, we were until he told me that Lizzie was over reacting when she stormed out of the theatre. I told him to stop being so insensitive. He came into my room this morning and tried to make amends, but wouldn't say sorry for what he'd said," I sniffed, unaware of the tears that were rolling down my cheeks.

"Lily, don't cry!" Tana whispered, hugging me tightly. "I'd better explain to Lizzie what happened. I don't think she's going to be very pleased, and I don't think it'll help Sirius much, but it's a start."

Lizzie didn't take what Tana said very well. She forgave Tana, who thought Sirius had told Lizzie of his plan, but she was still fuming at Sirius, and when we arrived back, he tried to stop her to make her talk to him, but she slammed her bedroom door in his face.

At about ten o'clock, she came into my room, her face red, and wrapped up in her dressing gown. She set up camp on my window seat, making herself a little bed there. We both fell to sleep, upset and missing our boyfriends.

*

When I woke up the next morning, I realised three things.

One, that it was nine, and I had overslept.

Two, that it was August the thirty-first, the last day of the holidays, our last day at Potter House, and Lizzie's seventeenth birthday.

And three, there was something tapping on the window.

The tapping was quite quiet, but I couldn't quite make out who or what was tapping, the curtains obscured my view. Suddenly, a loud tap woke Lizzie up, and she sat bolt upright on the window seat, and promptly fell off, her blonde hair covering her face.

"Ouch," she muttered – and then laughed.

We both laughed, laughing like we were insane, laughing like we were on drugs, but we laughed.

"What is tapping at the bloody window?" she asked irritably, losing her usually eloquent self for a minute – and forgetting the fact it was her birthday.

"Lizzie – it might be an owl."

"Why?" she asked, confused, and got up, and smoothed down her short blue pyjamas and her hair, which was verging on out of control.

"It might be because it's your birthday," I said, and suddenly she clapped her hand to her mouth, and yelled loudly –

"I'M SEVENTEEEEEEN!"

She then proceeded to do a little dance around the room, including a badly done moonwalk which made her trip over her own feet and fall back onto the window seat.

She drew back the curtains, and I got out of bed, adjusting my white nightdress, and we both stared at the immense amount of owls banging on the window.

"There are ten!" she said, jumping up and down hysterically. I unlatched the window, and the owls swooped in, dropping the packages and letters on the bed.

"Ooh, where do I start?" Lizzie asked, as Rhiannon came bounding in.

"Happy Birthday Lizzie!" she squealed, hugging Lizzie tightly. She was wearing her favourite scarlet pyjamas, with a baggy black cardigan thrown over the top. "Rebecca and Eden have nipped down to town for something – it's a surprise!"

We watched Lizzie open her presents – money, jewellery, including a beautiful diamond and pearl goblin-made necklace from her grandparents, books, including some by her favourite muggle author Jane Austen, who she preferred over every other author in the world, and a photo album from Eden.

We pored over these presents, until Lizzie noticed a letter hiding under her new copy of _Mansfield Park_, and opened it. I observed it was written in James' reasonably neat handwriting, and addressed to both of us. I guessed Sirius didn't write it because his handwriting is nearly indecipherable.

"It says to go down to the fountain, immediately," Lizzie said.

"I think you should go," Rhiannon prompted us.

"But we're in our pyjamas!" I exclaimed.

"Oh what the Merlin, we only live once!" Lizzie gabbled, and grabbed her grey cardigan, and shoved her feet into her fluffy silver slippers. I threw my dressing gown on and put on my green ballet pumps – I did the dressing gown up, aware my nightdress was very short.

We bid Rhiannon goodbye, and raced down the stairs and to the fountain. Surprise, surprise, there was nobody there.

"I bet this was one of Sirius' jokes," Lizzie grumbled, as we sat on the side of the magnificent fountain.

"But, fair maidens, it is not a joke," I heard a voice which sounded remarkably like Sirius' say. Except, we couldn't see them anywhere.

"Where are you?" Lizzie asked, clearly annoyed.

"Well," I heard James' voice now, "we wanted to wish Lizzie happy seventeenth birthday. But we also wanted to let you girls know just how much you mean to us."

Lizzie and I looked at each other, and then suddenly the boys materialized out of thin air – James' invisibility cloak discarded behind them.

"I WANT YOU TO WANT ME! I NEED YOU TO NEED ME! I'D LOVE YOU TO LOVE ME! I'M BEGGING YOU TO BEG ME!" the boys sang together – actually, quite tunefully. I recognised the song immediately.

They knelt down in front of us, hands clasped, and carried on. "DIDN'T I, DIDN'T I, DIDN'T I SEE YOU CRYING? FEELIN' ALL ALONE WITHOUT A FRIEND, YOU KNOW YOU FEEL LIKE DYING!"

James was knelt down in front of me, and I wrapped my hand around his, he grinned, and continued singing with Sirius, who was charming Lizzie rapidly. Her icy expression had practically melted away and she was smiling.

"I WANT YOU TO WANT ME! I NEED YOU TO NEED ME! I'D LOVE YOU TO LOVE ME! I'M BEGGING YOU TO BEG ME! I'LL SHINE UP THE OLD BROWN SHOES, PUT ON A BRAND NEW SHIRT! I'LL GET HOME EARLY FROM WORK IF YOU SAY YOU LOVE ME!" they chorused.

"I love you, Sirius!" I heard Lizzie yell, and she threw her arms around him, and kissed him again.

"James... I'm sorry," I whispered in his ear. He smiled at me.

"Come with me my petal," he murmured back.

"I love you James."

"I love you too Lily."

_

* * *

_

Thanks for reading, please tell me you liked it!!! I hope you have a very, very, VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS! And, the song used in this chapter was

"I Want You To Want Me" _by Cheap Trick, which I recommend listening to! Lots of christmas hugs,_

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	27. Stargazing

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY! It's about half 6 in the morning in sunny old Britain and I woke up very early so I decided to use the time to update my stories :) Thank you to wannabe witch11, Rider Arya Svit-Kona, shroomy-eyes, vanillabean18, It Goes Without Saying, xExpectoxPatronumx, sarlovesoccer and Stephie Cat-Kat for reviewing; thank you to It Goes Without Saying, shroomy-eyes and SiriuslylvnSirius25 for adding my story to your favourites and thank you to shroomy-eyes for adding me to your alert subscriptions!

Well, I hope you have a good and happy holiday and enjoy this chapter :) And... as a nice little Christmas present... could everybody who reads review? Pretty please?

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

**STARGAZING**

September the first saw us on Platform 9¾ once again to begin our final year at Hogwarts. It almost brought tears to my eyes – I just didn't want to leave.

I stood on the platform with James' arm around me, watching all the new first years kiss their parents goodbye and board the train. I remembered my first day, when Sirius had made Severus Snape crash into the pillar, and sitting in a compartment with James, Sirius and Remus.

"James! Lily!" I heard the familiar French accent of Rebecca, who was rushing towards us, Remus in tow, with a girl next to her who we did not know.

Although we did not know her, it was patently obvious who the girl was. She looked exactly like Rebecca, but a year or so younger. Her hair was the same shade of white blonde, except hers was slightly shorter, and she had a flattering fringe cut in which framed her face. She was wearing blue skinny jeans, a cream vest top, an electric blue blazer jacket, a black and white scarf, a jewelled bracelet and black Mary Jane shoes.

"'Zis is my younger sister, Stephanie," she introduced us to her. Stephanie smiled, and shook our hands.

"Steph, really," she said.

"Are you in sixth year?" I asked.

Steph nodded.

"In our capacity as _Head Girl _and_ Head Boy_," James said, placing careful emphasis on our new roles – James was evidently proud of them as he had taken the liberty of broadcasting the news to every passerby he could, even a random Muggle businessman on Platform 10 who was running to catch a train. "Would you like us to introduce you to some lovely sixth years we know?" Steph looked pleased at this, and James grinned.

We took her onto the train, and Rebecca and Remus grabbed us the first compartment – we would have Head duties for a bit but after that we could have some fun – and we led Steph down the aisle until we reached a compartment filled with five sixth year girls giggling wildly. I had termed them James' fan club – when we went in their compartment, they grinned flirtatiously, all apart from one, who just smiled friendlily.

"James," the leader of the pack, Beatrice, said. They were a bunch of nice girls, just a little too James-obsessed for my liking.

"Hey Bea," he said, and Beatrice practically fainted at him shortening her name. "This is Steph – you know Rebecca Villade, the Beauxbatons transfer we're friendly with? This is her sister, she's in your year."

"Hi Steph!" Elena, the one who had smiled friendlily and not like a James-obsessed madwoman, greeted her. "I'm Elena Prewett. My brothers Fabian and Gideon are in the compartment next door, with their friend Carlisle."

I knew Fabian and Gideon – ardent admirers of Rhiannon in the years before she went out with Jasper. They were in the same year as Elena, but at the older end – her birthday was in August, and theirs in September. And their friend Carlisle was insanely good-looking, but seemed of little importance to the girls of Hogwarts whilst Sirius Black was around. Sirius seemed a catch even though he was taken, and had been for nine months.

"_Bonjour_, Elena," Steph said nicely to her.

"Would you like me to introduce you to everybody here? Well, this is Beatrice Dean, Emily Myers, Emmeline Vance and Marlene McKinnon," Elena told her.

They all said hello, and then chatted avidly, including Steph in their conversation, about their summers.

We left the compartment, and James pulled me into the next one, and held himself close to my body.

"Er, James?" I said.

"Yes, my petal?"

"What are you doing?"

"Well, seeing as you're the smartest girl in our year, I didn't think I would have to draw a diagram, or explain the concept of momentary passion, but..." James grinned audaciously.

"Ha ha, seriously, we need to go and sort out the prefects, and make sure all the first years are okay!" I replied.

"The first years and the prefects can wait," he purred seductively in my ear.

"Sorry James, no momentary passion for you," I smiled, and unwrapped his arms from around me, and ran out of the compartment.

"Lily, no fair!" I heard James calling, and I sprinted through the aisle and out onto the platform. It was five to eleven, so I started telling all the students on the platform that they should be getting onto the train.

*

"So basically, do your duties and we'll all be smashing," James said. I rolled my eyes.

"Come to us if you have any problems," I said, a little more kindly.

"Yep, I second what she said," he grinned, which made the prefects laugh.

We had a nice lot this year – Remus and Lizzie were prefects, and so were Fabian and Gideon Prewett, and Marlene McKinnon. The only pains were the Slytherin prefects – Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black, who spent their prefect rounds kissing each other in broom cupboards. Obviously, that was _not_ what James and I would be doing... well, we would refrain from kissing in random cupboards anyway...

The new Slytherin prefect, in fifth year, was a girl named Charlotte Minton, who told everybody to call her Charli. She, for a Slytherin, seemed pretty good-natured, and actually smiled at us. Her hair was a kind of golden blonde colour, and was quite short, and she had twinkly green eyes. She looked hardworking and as if she was up for doing her job properly, so all was fine.

"So, that seems to be all, sixth year prefects will patrol the train alternately until we get to Hogwarts – and we'll meet to discuss how everything's going in the Transfiguration classroom a week on Wednesday at eight o'clock," I said. They all nodded, and left.

James and I were left alone in the Prefect compartment – Charli Minton had lingered for a few seconds, I couldn't fathom why, but I smiled at her and she quickly rushed out.

"Lily..." he drew my name out as he spoke it as if he wanted something.

"What?" I replied, pushing my long red hair out of my eyes.

"I'll take care of that for you," he said, and lifted my hair up and pushed it back. "Can we have our momentary passion now?"

I laughed. "Is that all you think about?"

He shook his head rapidly. "But Lily..."

"James – we have a Heads' common room all year in which we will not be interrupted. There is plenty of time for momentary passion, I think you'll find," I filled him in.

"Sometimes Lily you are too damn clever for your own good," he grinned.

"Thank you – I'll take it as a compliment," I smiled back. He pulled me close.

"Lily," he whispered in my ear, "I love you more than words can say."

"James," I murmured back, "I love you more than the amount of stars in the sky."

I kissed him on the cheek, and with that, we left the prefect compartment, hand in hand.

*

Professor McGonagall led me and James through the maze of corridors that was Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, taking us to the special tower for the Head Girl and Head Boy.

"It is behind the painting of the four founders of Hogwarts, in the east tower," she told us as we struggled to keep up with her brisk pace.

"What's the password, Professor McGonagall?" I asked politely.

"Well, Professor Dumbledore selected the password, and due to his incessant appetite for confectionery, he chose _peppermint_. But you may change the password the first Monday in every month, and you can disclose the password to any other students that you wish, but on your own head be it," she answered.

James' eyes suddenly widened in a comical way and he looked upwards as if there was something extremely dangerous and invisible on his head. Behind McGonagall's back, he began to swipe his hands across the top of his head, trying to get rid of this imaginary thing on his head. It was so funny, and I tried to suppress laughter but a giggle escaped.

"Did I say something funny, Miss Evans?" Professor McGonagall turned round and asked me sharply. James was completely back to normal, walking with his hands clasped and smirking.

"No, sorry, Professor. Just remembered a joke, er, Sirius told me on the train," I made up a random excuse. She nodded curtly, and carried on leading us in the direction of the east tower.

James looked at me incredulously, mouthing Sirius' name over and over again, and faked crying.

Unfortunately, his actions did not evade McGonagall's hawk-like eyes as she glanced behind at us, and she suddenly said in an alarmed voice, "Mr Potter what _are_ you doing?"

"I'm sorry Professor," he sobbed, "but she loves my best friend!"

Professor McGonagall's expression suddenly split into many different emotions: shocked, interested, annoyed and... _amused_.

"She loves your best friend?" she repeated in a slow and sceptical voice. My cheeks were burning.

"Yes," James said, and suddenly threw his arms around McGonagall and continued sobbing, "Sirius gets all the girls!"

"Hmmn, yes, well Mr Black certainly has proven himself to be one with the women in this school, but if I am not mistaken, isn't he going out with one Miss Elizabeth Armstrong? Your friend, in fact?" Professor McGonagall said.

"How do you know that?" James suddenly stopped pretending to cry and looked at her in amazement.

"It's quite simple to guess really," she said modestly.

"How? How, how, _how_?" James chanted like a fan at a football match.

"It might have something to do with the fact that Mr Black declared his undying love for her in Transfiguration last year. Now, would you like to see the Heads' common room and tower?" she raised her eyebrows.

"Yes, thank you, Professor," I said. James grinned at me.

After a few more minutes, she stopped outside a portrait at the end of a long corridor – a portrait of the four founders of Hogwarts standing outside the castle in the day time, next to the Black Lake. The trees of the Forbidden Forest could be seen in the background, and the little space which now vacated Hagrid's hut was grass, where wild violet flowers were growing. It was a lovely portrait – with the four founders grinning inanely at us.

Rowena Ravenclaw, dressed in a navy dress with bronze jewellery and detailing on her attire, pretty and intelligent, with long, dark, curly hair cascading down her shoulders, tall and statuesque, holding the fabled diadem – now lost amongst the fabric of time.

Salazar Slytherin, grinning viciously, with black hair and an expression like a viper. He was reasonably tall, but rather skinny, and he wore clothes of emerald green and silver, and in his hand was the famous heart-shaped Slytherin locket, with a serpentine 'S' decorating the front in emeralds.

Helga Hufflepuff, round and jolly-looking, clothed in yellow and black, with shiny blonde hair plaited in a distinctly medieval style around her head. The famous cup of Hufflepuff was in her hands, glinting in the sun.

And Godric Gryffindor, tall, muscular and handsome, wearing red and gold, smiling and holding the sword of Gryffindor in his hand, the handle encrusted with rubies, catching the light of the sun.

"Wow," I breathed, and Professor McGonagall smiled.

"You can go in and explore yourselves if you like," she said, and left us to it.

"How cool is this, Lily!" James jumped up and down like an over-excited puppy – it was so cute!

"Peppermint," I said, and the portrait swung open.

A little passageway opened out into a massive common room, with a large fireplace, a roaring fire warming the room. It was decorated in red and gold, bookcases lining the walls, filled with our favourite volumes. A large table, surrounded by chairs, stood on one side, and squashy armchairs and a sofa by the fire.

James immediately wandered over to the table, and stood up on it, and said, "Excellent for Marauder karaoke!"

Four doors led off the main room – two of them either side of the bookcases, and the other two either side of the fireplace.

I opened the huge oak door to the left of the fireplace – to find my bedroom. A few steps led to a huge circular room, with a large four-poster bed, a dressing table, chest of drawers and a wardrobe. Another door revealed my bathroom, complete with shower and bath! It was better than anything I could have hoped for.

"LILY!" I heard James call. I wandered back into the common room, and heard he was shouting from the door to the right of the fireplace, evidently his room. I entered it, and saw he was screeching from the bathroom.

"Yes?" I said, popping my head round the door.

"Lily, I have a _gold toilet_!" he squealed elatedly.

"Lovely," I said sarcastically, and he suddenly sprung at me, and started kissing me passionately.

"James, we haven't looked in the other doors yet!" I protested, but loving it really.

"Shut up, Lily," he said between kisses.

"James!"

"What?"

"We are snogging in a bathroom."

"So?"

"Next to a gold toilet."

"Gold toilets rock," he replied. I succumbed to his charms, and half an hour later, we went back into the common room. We opened both of the doors – one revealed a staircase going up, the other a staircase going down.

"Which one first?" he said.

"The one going down," I decided, and he grabbed my hand, and we raced down the spiral staircase. At the bottom was a large wooden door.

"Ooh, I wonder where it leads," I said excitedly.

"Narnia!" he grinned. I rolled my eyes.

"Narnia?"

"Narnia is the best!"

"Almost as good as gold toilets?"

"Better! I want to meet Aslan, he is such a cool lion. We tried to convince Peter in third year that you could get to Narnia through the third floor broom cupboard – silly boy believed us!" James roared with laughter. "We forgot about him, and Sirius went into the broom cupboard with one of his conquests, I think her name was Alinela or something like that, and boy was he shocked when Peter suddenly emerged out of the mops asking him if he knew the way to Cair Paravel!"

"Shall we open the door?" I laughed.

James pushed it open – and we found ourselves in –

"THE KITCHEN!"

Suddenly, lots of house elves came forward, offering us beverages and cakes. We were full to bursting from dinner, but James asked if we could have some banana cake and we were soon served it, and sat down and ate with the house elves, who were preparing breakfast.

"Thank you," I said kindly to the elves as we left, and ran back up the staircase.

"Upstairs?" James asked, and I nodded.

This staircase took a while to get up, and when we got to the top, there was a trapdoor.

"I hope there isn't a ghoul up here, Molly Weasley told me they had one in their attic," James shuddered uneasily.

We unlatched the trapdoor, and opened it – and once we had climbed through, we found ourselves on the top of the tower, in the open air, looking across all of Hogwarts.

"This is amazing – it's so beautiful!" I said.

"Not as beautiful as you, Lily," James whispered as we gazed at the stars.

We fell asleep, hand in hand, under the stars twinkling in the night sky.

_

* * *

_

A lot of James/Lily there! Thanks for reading, have a great Christmas, please review!

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	28. Back To Reality

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: Merry Christmas :) I hope you had a great day yesterday and will continue to have a fab holiday. Thanks to vanillabean18, sarlovesoccer, Rider Arya Svit-Kona, lily-james-forevs and shroomy-eyes for reviewing and thanks to junebugbug96 for adding my story to your alert subscription! I hope you like this chapter, it's a little short, but there's a lot of Lily/James plus some of what I hope is comedy!

Please check out my new story **The Complete Misadventures of the Marauders **- hopefully also funny :)

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

**BACK TO REALITY**

The next morning, I woke up, and I was staring up at the clouds. I thought it was a dream – a calm, peaceful dream in which I was floating through the air.

Unfortunately, the air was hard. I was lying on something which was stone cold, and by the feel of it, _was_ stone. I was groggy, and couldn't work out why I was on some stone, floating through the sky.

Then I heard some mumbling coming from beside me. It sounded like sleep-talking, and it didn't really make sense. Somebody was saying my name over and over again, and other words scattered in between: "_Lily..._catch the snitch!..._Lily_...solemnly swear no good..._Lily_...why why Delilah..._Lily_...I want a gold toilet..."

At the mentioning of a gold toilet, sudden realisation hit me. I wasn't dreaming, I had fallen asleep at the top of the tower with James next to me. And he was sleep talking. I rolled over to look at his face. He was so cute when sleeping – his messy black hair was even messier, his glasses were next to his head and he was grinning. He even grinned in his sleep.

I lay back, smiling. This was perfect. When James woke up, we would go down to breakfast, receive our timetables, escort the first years to their first class and then go to our own. It was all so exciting. Just to check, I glanced at my watch.

_It said twenty past eight._

Breakfast finished at half eight, lessons began at nine and James and I should have been down there already.

"James!" I said, shaking him violently. His eyes snapped open, and he looked groggy.

"Wha'?" he asked moodily.

"James, sweetie, we're late," I said soothingly.

"Stuff school," he said in a tired voice.

"It's twenty-past eight James."

"So?"

"We've got to take the first years to their lessons, James."

"So?"

"We're missing breakfast, James."

"So?"

"We won't get any food, James."

"Holy Merlin!" he yelped, and jumped up. We opened the trap door, and raced down the stairs. I didn't even stop to examine my reflection in the mirror as we left the Heads' common room and raced through the corridors in the direction of the Great Hall.

We skidded into the Great Hall, and hurried to the Gryffindor table, where we joined the Marauders and Rhiannon, Jasper, Eden, Lizzie and Rebecca, at twenty-seven minutes past, just in time to grab some toast and cereal.

"Merlin, Prongs, you look dishevelled! As does fine Lily here!" Sirius commented, smirking, as I pushed my hair out of my face and began to munch on the toast I had plonked onto my plate.

James just grunted in reply.

"Where were you two?"

"Lily and I fell asleep and we didn't wake up till about five minutes ago," James said.

Sirius' eyes widened in pure shock. "OH MY MERLIN PRONGS! DID YOU _DO_ LILY LAST NIGHT?" he bellowed, and the whole hall went quiet. I blushed and kept my head down whilst three-hundred pairs of eyes stared at James and I.

"NO!" James yelled back.

"Phew, mate, had me worried there," he winked. He sickened me.

"Sirius, you are actually disgusting. Look that word up in the dictionary, and you'll find '_Sirius Black_' written as the definition," Lizzie commented, smirking.

"I second that," I agreed, sipping my pumpkin juice.

"Sorry," he apologised, yet still smiling like a madman. "Had to be said. You never know."

"Padfoot, will you stop implying dirty things about me and my girlfriend?" James asked in a weary voice.

"Of course, dear Prongsy, I'll write a formal letter of apology too, addressed to Mr Prongs, Mrs Prongs and the possible baby Prongs..." Sirius grinned.

James threw an apple at him for this, but was smiling all the same. The apple bounced off his forehead, and knocked him backwards onto the floor. His eyes were shut, and we all gathered round him.

"Padfoot!" Remus said concernedly, and slapped his cheek. Sirius didn't move.

"Sirius!" Lizzie squealed, shaking him violently.

"Careful, Lizzie, he'll be a milkshake if you carry on," James quipped, but Lizzie gave him a death stare that silenced him quickly.

"You knocked him out!" Lizzie growled.

"Well we all know he'll go to heaven," Remus smirked, knowing full well that Sirius was not dead.

"I know, he was such a saint-like soul," James crooned.

"Saint Sirius..." Jasper remarked.

"POTTER! LUPIN! PETTIGREW! RATHBONE! EVANS! ARMSTRONG! THOMAS! PATTERSON! VILLADE!" we heard Professor McGonagall bark. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"Er, Sirius has been knocked out, Professor," James confessed.

"Pardon?" she blinked, not quite comprehending what he said.

"James knocked Sirius out when he threw an apple at his head, Professor," I explained. Then she clocked Sirius lying unconscious on the floor.

"Mr Potter!" she exclaimed, whilst James looked sheepish. "You'll need to carry him to the Hospital Wing!"

"Okay, Professor," James replied, and he, Remus and Jasper picked Sirius up.

"Not you, Mr Potter, you have to escort the first years to their first lessons," Professor McGonagall pointed out, and Peter scurried forward to help carry Sirius.

A few seconds later, Sirius' eyes opened slowly.

"Am I in heaven?" he asked in a serene, dreamy voice.

We all looked at each other, amused, and Professor McGonagall looked positively confused at Sirius' sudden awakening.

"Are you an angel?" he asked James, who shook his head.

"Are you my guardian angel?" he asked Professor McGonagall. She looked outraged. "Are you a saint? You have a saint-like look about you."

"Mr Black, kindly refrain from asking stupid questions and get along to the Hospital Wing so Madame Pomfrey can sort you out," she finally said.

"Ahh, Poppy, my real guardian angel. This one's an imposter, you know," he said to Jasper, who tried rather successfully to suppress a smile.

Jasper, Remus and Peter carried Sirius off, and Lizzie, Rhiannon, Eden and Rebecca followed him.

"Come on, we'd better go and assemble the first years," James grinned, grabbing my hand and pulling me into the Entrance Hall.

The first years were standing in a big huddle, and after some asking, we discovered that the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had Herbology, and the Gryffindors and Slytherins had Potions.

"I'll take the Gryffindors and Slytherins, if you take the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws," James said, and I agreed.

"Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, follow me!" I called, and they followed me out into the Hogwarts grounds in the direction of the greenhouses.

*

"Lily, may I ask you zumthing?" Rebecca said, and she slid into the seat next to me.

"Yes, of course," I replied – it was just after lunch and I had a free period, and like the exciting individual I was, I was spending it in the library completing a Transfiguration essay that McGonagall had already set.

"Does Remus like me?" she asked uncertainly. Her body language was tense and she looked anxious.

From what I could ascertain, Remus did wholeheartedly like her. But something was keeping him back, and I knew what that something was, but I didn't feel that I could divulge it to Rebecca.

Remus Lupin was a werewolf.

"I think he does, Rebecca, and I think you should tell him that you like him," I replied.

_

* * *

_

The last little bit is basically leading up to what happens in the next chapter - please review for it as it involves Lily making a discovery as to what her boyfriend and his fellow Marauders get up to every full moon and some Remus and Rebecca... hehe, thanks for reading, please review!

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	29. The Furry Drama

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: Thank you to crazey logic 13, Bramble Icedancer, Lisbry, shroomy-eyes, Stephie Cat-Kat, lily-james-forevs and xExpectoxPatronumx for reviewing; thank you to thejoysofdollhood., Bramble Icedancer, Cass92, crazey logic 13 and Ron3Hermione for adding my story to your favourites and thank you to Bramble Icedancer, crazey logic 13 and Freya-Rhianna for adding my story to your alerts. I hope you are all having a brilliant holiday and have a happy new year!

Please could you check out my profile because I'm trying to find a story I read in the summer before I got an account and there's a description of it on there - if you know what it's called could you let me know? Thank you!!!!! Enjoy the chapter...

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

**THE FURRY DRAMA**

In my mind, I certainly agreed that Rebecca and Remus would make an excellent couple. Remus certainly liked her. But being the caring person he was, he wouldn't go out with her because of his werewolf problem in case he hurt her.

In my opinion, he should tell her. But I was going to get Rebecca to ask him because, strictly speaking, I wasn't supposed to know. Nobody had actually told me, but I'd figured it out, and when Severus had told me his theory – which was in fact correct – I denied it.

Looking at the lunar chart that James had left on the table in our common room from his Astronomy class, I noticed that full moon was one day from then. Poor Remus. Every full moon, excuses were made by the Marauders for his whereabouts – his aunt was ill, he had gone to visit his parents, an old family friend was staying in Hogsmeade and he was with them... they ran on and on.

But what I was most intrigued about was what happened to the other Marauders on the night of the full moon. James, Sirius and Peter disappeared for that night only and reappeared the next morning, secretive and jokey as usual.

I wanted to know exactly what happened to them all. It wasn't possible for them to go with Remus to transform – wherever that was – because they would be mauled to death.

I found it hard to comprehend the fact that sweet, gentle Remus became a werewolf every month. But it was part of who he was, and as his friend, I was willing to accept it – and I thought Rebecca would too, but she would want to hear it from his mouth and not mine.

At that present moment, I was sitting alone in the common room by the fire, reading a book. It wasn't an incredibly interesting one, it was one I had taken out of the library for background reading to History of Magic. Professor Binns was freaking me out now though – two days ago I and the rest of the class were seated in the classroom, Lizzie and I next to each other, Rhiannon and Jasper behind us (the Marauders, Rebecca and Eden had opted out of taking History of Magic to NEWT level) and we were waiting for Professor Binns to arrive when suddenly he appeared as a ghost through the blackboard! I swear I nearly fainted!

James was out and about with Sirius, probably cooking up some prank that they would evade getting caught doing, and Remus and Peter were in the library – Remus was trying to teach Peter how to project your voice through your Patronus, and was being very patient with him. Unfortunately, James and Sirius did not have that kind of patience, so had left them to it.

I was trying to concentrate on reading about a medieval witch-burning when I heard tapping at the window. It reminded me of those numerous owls tapping on my window in the summer on Lizzie's birthday – so I turned my head, closing my book and putting it on the arm of the chair, advanced towards the window.

Sure enough, my beautiful owl was knocking on our window. I opened it, and she flew in. Tied to her foot was a piece of paper, and I unrolled it, and she nipped my finger lovingly, and then perched herself on the bookshelf.

It was from my mum and dad, about the arrangements for Petunia's wedding. Apparently the bridesmaids (as previously mentioned, not me) were going to be wearing ice blue, and mum was going to be wearing navy blue and white. She wanted to check that James was still coming to the wedding and the reception (he was), that Mr and Mrs Potter were happy to attend both the ceremony and the reception (they were), and that my friends were perfectly okay with attending only the reception (they were pleased to).

In some ways, I was looking forward to Petunia's wedding. Seeing her married off to Vernon Dursley – or the walrus as James and I had affectionately named him – would be good as it meant that when I finished Hogwarts, she would not be at home and I could have the house to myself, with my parents of course, but could have my friends round as much as I desired without her trying – and failing – to flirt with them, or calling them freaks.

Then again, would I be going back to my parents' house after Hogwarts? Would I move in somewhere with James? It wasn't something we had particularly discussed – but I knew we would be together forever. Our relationship had that kind of feel about it.

I scribbled a quick reply to my parents, and sent it back with my owl.

"Lily?"

I heard James call my name. He was walking in, carrying some books. He smiled. I loved his smile.

He kissed me softly, and put the books down on the desk.

"My mum just wrote to me about Petunia's wedding," I told him. He grinned once again.

"The wedding they had to force your sister to let you attend?" he said, smirking.

"Yep. You still want to come, right?" I asked anxiously.

"Of course, Lily. I wouldn't leave you to be tortured by the uniting of the horse and the walrus," he answered, hugging me tightly.

"I like Petunia's nickname," I remarked, "the horse."

"I thought it fitted quite well," he said.

"It definitely does. She is, after all, a horsy-faced prat," I said bitterly, which made him laugh. First he laughed softly, and then he began to roar with laughter. "What's so funny?" I asked, intrigued.

"Oh Merlin!" he cried, "imagine what their children will be like! A horse walrus cross-breed! Ha ha! A holrus!"

This made me laugh, and we were both crying with laughter when Sirius entered the common room. Merlin knows why James divulged the password to him of all people, but there you go. His mind works in mysterious ways.

"What the bloody hell are you laughing at?" he asked, bewildered.

"Lily's sister and fiancé will have a horse and walrus cross-breed for a child!" James howled with laughter. Consequentially, Sirius began to laugh too.

We were now all crying with laughter. It was lightening the mood of the evening.

When we had calmed down slightly, I suddenly wondered why exactly Sirius had come into the common room.

"Er, Sirius?" I asked.

"Yes, Lily?"

"Why precisely are you here?"

"Oh, charming that is, Lily. There I was, thinking you would be _pleased _to see me, but no. You want to know why I am here!" he exclaimed.

"Padfoot, why are you here?"

"Well Prongs, Moony is a bit, er, off-colour and has to go, erm, visit his, er..." Sirius began to explain. I noticed the severe pauses in this explanation and knew that they were trying to conceal the fact that Remus was going to be transforming into a werewolf the next day and was feeling ill.

"So we have to...?"

"Exactly."

"You have to what?" I asked sharply.

"Erm, nothing!" James said brightly.

"James Potter, what are you trying to hide?" I demanded of him. He was my boyfriend – I had a right to know.

"Nothing, Lily, nothing," Sirius answered for him.

"There is quite obviously something and if you don't tell me now I will make it so that you _cannot_ leave!" I said, desperate to find out the big secret they were masking.

"And how _exactly _are you going to do that?" Sirius grinned, folding his arms. I knew what he thought – two six-foot-something muscular Quidditch-playing seventeen year olds against a five-foot-seven slim girl with positively no muscles to speak of; it would be a pushover.

"Like this," I answered, swiftly drawing my wand and yelling, "_Petrificus Totalus_!"

The body binding curse immediately made them seize up and fall on the floor, lying straight, but their mouths still working.

"Aw, Lily, no fair!" Sirius whined.

"Tell me, now!" I squealed.

"I think she has a right to know, Padfoot," James said. Thank Merlin.

"Well, to be fair, she does, but that doesn't mean, strictly speaking, we have to tell her," Sirius replied. His brain worked in highly inexplicable ways.

"I think you should tell me, if that helps," I offered.

"Padfoot!" James moaned.

"Prongs!" Sirius moaned back.

"Please, let me tell her! Pretty please with a snitch on top!"

"What, I don't get badger?"

"You can have a badger if you want!"

"Alright, just tell her!"

"Lily, I am allowed to tell you–"

"But if we tell you, we have to kill you," Sirius badly ripped off a Bond line, interrupting James.

"Yes, thank you Sirius," I said sarcastically.

"'S'alright Evans, any time," he grinned.

"Lily, do you know about Remus?" James asked me, choosing very sensibly to ignore Sirius.

"I do. Nobody told me, but I worked it out for myself. He's a werewolf, isn't he?" I said cautiously, knowing I was probably skating on thin ice.

"Yes," James nodded, "and before he told us, every month, he was alone during his transformation. And us being the Marauders, once we knew, we didn't like to leave our friend to suffer once a month without us to be there with him."

"But he would maul you to pieces!" I said in a high-pitched voice.

"Ah, Lily, you are forgetting – he would maul us to pieces if we were _humans_," James said. Obviously this was the very clever part, but I was not grasping what exactly he meant.

"So what are you? Aliens from Planet Zog?" I asked, very confused.

"No, not exactly," James replied, "it's better if we show you. Could you un-bind us?"

"I suppose so," I grumbled, and cast the counter-curse, and they immediately sprang up.

"Ready Padfoot?"

"Ready Prongs," Sirius answered.

They both closed their eyes – and suddenly, before my eyes, James and Sirius disappeared. Correction – they didn't _disappear_, they morphed from being James and Sirius the boys to a stag and a black dog.

"What the hell? You're an animagus!" I screeched.

The stag had the same hazel eyes as James, and came and stroked my arm with its head. The dog ran in circles round my feet, barking, in the similar hyper maniac way that Sirius often was.

They morphed back into their human forms.

"Oh my Merlin... you became illegal animagus, just so you could be with Remus when he transforms? That is the sweetest, most friendliest thing I have ever heard! James, I'm sorry for ever saying you do nothing for your friends – and Sirius, I'm sorry for ever calling you selfish! What about Peter, what animal does he transform into?" I babbled.

"A rat," Sirius replied.

"Hence the nicknames – I'm Prongs, because of my antlers; Sirius is Padfoot, because it is a name for a dog, but sometimes we call him Snuffles–" James explained, but I interrupted.

"Aww, Snuffles! And you were such a cute little dog as well, Sirius," I smiled, and he pretended to blush.

"Oi! Wasn't I a cute little stag?" James protested indignantly.

"Of course you were, my darling," I kissed him, and Sirius made a sound like he was vomiting.

"And Lily – you are the only person, apart from the Marauders and Dumbledore, at Hogwarts that know Remus is a werewolf. And only the Marauders and you know about the fact that Padfoot, Wormy and I are animagi. I know you won't tell anyone – Remus doesn't like telling people, but I don't think he would mind if you knew – seeing as you figured it out yourself," James said.

"Can you ask Remus something for me?" I said, before they left to go and keep him company.

"Yeah?" Sirius replied.

"Can you tell him that it won't injure him to tell the one he likes. She'll understand," I told them.

"What? Remus doesn't fancy anyone," Sirius said.

"If he did, we'd know," James commented.

"Just because he hasn't told you, doesn't mean that he doesn't. Could you just repeat that to him please? And also tell him that she likes him – and wonders why he won't say anything to her," I continued.

They looked perplexed, but nevertheless, nodded, and promised they would repeat my message. Then, off they went for their furry little drama of the month.

*

Due to Remus' transformation, he and James were absent from the prefect meeting the following day. I covered for them, saying that they were feeling a little under the weather and were recovering in the east tower together. I couldn't help but notice Charli Minton looked disappointed at the fact that James wasn't there, but paid attention to what I was saying.

Unfortunately, due to the fact that James wasn't there, the seventh year Slytherins felt that it was okay to taunt me, seeing as James wasn't threatening them with a curse of some description every time they looked at me funnily or made a rude remark.

And when I told Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black what exactly they were required to do for their prefect duties for the next few weeks, Lucius Malfoy gave me a glacial look and coolly said, "As if I would take orders from a filthy little mudblood like you."

That led to me, Lizzie and a fifth-year Hufflepuff called Barry Brennan having to pull Fabian and Gideon Prewett off of Lucius, who had been shoved to the floor when the twins lunged at him.

"There's no need for that language, Malfoy, you'll do as you're told," I said coldly. I turned to the rest of the prefects present, and said, in a much warmer voice, "Any problems, you know where to find me."

Malfoy and Narcissa were the first to leave; thank Merlin. Fabian and Gideon stayed behind to apologise for their violent outburst, but thought it was warranted considering the circumstances. I laughed, and promised that they wouldn't be reported for fighting.

"Thanks Lily!" they called cheerfully as they left the classroom.

Two days after the full moon, Remus was starting back in classes. He was looking tired and weary, but was still smiling nonetheless. I asked him how he was, he said he was okay, and also whispered in my ear that James had told him that I knew. And he added also that he didn't mind me knowing, and thanked me for my advice.

"My advice?" I questioned him quietly.

"I quote Padfoot and Prongs here: '_We don't know what the bloody Merlin she's going on about Moony, but she said it won't injure you to tell the one that you like. She also said she will understand. Who on earth does she mean? Oh, and she said she likes you back. Who, Moony, who?_'" he laughed.

"Sorry, I couldn't put it any subtler than that," I smiled.

"Thanks, Lily," he said, and left in the direction of the Gryffindor tower whilst I went down to History of Magic. As I was about to enter the classroom, Rebecca came rushing towards me. Bearing in mind she does not _take_ History of Magic, I found this odd, but was pleased to see my friend.

"Lily!" she called, and stopped me on the way in. "Remus 'as asked eef I will meet 'im at ze tree by zee lake after dinner, 'e 'as zumteeng 'e wants to tell me!" she said in an ecstatic voice.

"Oh, Rebecca, that's brilliant!" I replied.

_

* * *

_

Remus Lupin

* * *

After dinner, I slipped away from Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail and down to the lake. I saw Rebecca wasn't there yet, by the tree, so I sat down by myself, looking across the Black Lake.

Although named rather sinisterly as the Black Lake, it was quite serene sitting there in the low light, contemplating things.

What exactly was I contemplating? The fact that Lily had told me to tell Rebecca that I was a werewolf.

It wasn't as easy as it sounded – in fact, it sounded positively simple. But, I was so worried. I really liked Rebecca. Rebecca Villade, the famously beautiful French girl, with sunny waist-length hair and entrancing grey eyes. And, according to Lily, who was exceptionally astute, she liked me!

And the little thought in the back of my mind that kept interrupting my happy images of Rebecca and I together was depressing me. It was that Rebecca wouldn't want me when she found out I was a monster.

But then, that thought was conquered by another that quashed it by saying – Rebecca isn't superficial. She likes you for you, and that _is_ you.

I turned my head to look up at Hogwarts castle – the place that had been so accepting of me and my condition. My friends, who had done the unthinkable and made it so that they could join me on my monthly excursions. Despite the fact that I was a werewolf, I was lucky. People had been so accommodating of me. I was included, I was not an outcast like I'd feared I would be when people found out about me. They were sympathetic, and helped me. What more could I ask for?

And now, I liked a girl so much I was prepared to tell her. I had never asked any girl out before – primarily because of the fact I am a werewolf. It's not like I didn't have opportunity, either. In fourth year, Daisy Reid and Emmeline Cuthbert. Fifth year, Veronica May. Sixth year, Patricia Lewis. True enough, I didn't like them as much as I liked Rebecca. Merlin, I couldn't stop _thinking_about Rebecca Villade. She was in my every thought and feeling.

Looking at Hogwarts, I saw a golden blonde exit the large doors and begin to walk down to where I was.

_Rebecca._

When she saw me, she smiled. Her whole face lit up when she smiled like that – it was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen in all my life.

"Remus," she said in her lovely French accent. She sat down beside me. "You said you had zumteeng to tell me?"

"I do, Rebecca, but I'm not sure whether you will like it or not – but let me explain something to you first," I replied, and she looked slightly confused.

"What eez it, Remus?" she asked, concerned, and put her hand on mine.

"The thing I must explain to you first, Rebecca, is that: I really like you. I have liked you ever since we first saw you at Platform 9¾ a year ago. You're amazing, and I couldn't believe it when Lily told me you liked me too. But there is something I have to confess – and it may prevent you from liking me... and you might believe me a monster afterwards..." I drifted off uncertainly. Her welcoming expression silently invited me to carry on.

"There's no easy way to say this, Rebecca, but... have you noticed I disappear regularly?" I asked.

"Yes, to visit your aunt and such," she replied.

"No, it's not to visit my aunt. That's a cover story which Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs thought up... the truth is, Rebecca, that I'm a werewolf," I said slowly and carefully. My face burned as she scrutinized me after what I said.

"A werewolf? _Et _why would zat make me believe you a monster?" Rebecca asked softly.

"It's the generalised perception of a werewolf," I responded quietly.

"Remus Lupin... you mean zat you teenk I would no longer like you because you are a werewolf?" she asked me. I nodded. "Well I hope this answers your question."

And with that, she kissed me.

It was as if sparks and fireworks had been set off in my brain – she still liked me. _She still liked me and didn't care that I was a werewolf_. This was magical.

She pulled away. "Remus – I adore you. I have for ages – I don't care eef you are a werewolf," she smiled.

"But I might hurt you!" I protested.

"Remus, don't concern yourself with zat. Eef you did, so what? Madam Pomfrey would patch me up in no time," she answered.

"But still – what if I caused you a serious injury?" I asked her.

"Stop making excuses and kiss me again," Rebecca requested, so I complied with her request.

It was only polite, after all.

_

* * *

_

I hope you liked that :) Thanks for reading and please review for the next chapter, which involves Halloween; and, of course, when you give James opportunity to think of ideas of how to celebrate an occasion, he ALWAYS comes up with the most exciting ones ;)

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	30. The All Night Concert Extravaganza

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: Thank you to shroomy-eyes, wannabe witch11, Stephie Cat-Kat, sarlovesoccer, Sam-EvansBlue, .limits111, vanillabean18 and Lisbry for reviewing and thank you to loving-the-spotlight for adding my story to your alerts and favourites! Enjoy the chapter :)

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Nine**

**THE ALL NIGHT CONCERT EXTRAVAGANZA**

Halloween was approaching fast, and James seemed to think he had a wonderful idea for a party.

"Fancy dress, Lily!" he exclaimed, one evening about two weeks before Halloween.

"Fancy dress?" I asked sceptically. This sounded like an entertaining idea, but I worried what Sirius would turn up as. His ideas had been questionable about the appropriateness before.

"Yeah! We could party in the Room of Requirement after the feast!" James said enthusiastically.

"Why don't we just party in here?" I said, liking the sound of a party.

"Brilliant! We could invite Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail... obviously... Lizzie, Eden, Rhiannon, Jasper... of course _Moony_ will want _Rebecca _to be invited..." he grinned wickedly.

"I suppose we could invite Alice and Frank, the Prewett brothers, Elena Prewett, Steph Villade, Beatrice, Emily, Emmeline, Marlene... we could maybe invite Charli Minton? She's a Slytherin but she's very nice," I remarked.

"Yeah. Shall we invite a couple of the Ravenclaws? Rhys Wilkes, he's alright. We'd better not invite Edward Kennedy..." James grinned.

"Aww, James! The brawl between him and Sirius would have been the best bit of the party!" I said sarcastically.

"Dear Merlin, no!" James shook his head violently.

"James, you'll make your brain shoot out one ear if you carry on," I smiled. He snorted with laughter. "James..."

"What?" he asked kindly.

"I was thinking–" I began, but he interrupted me.

"Ooh dear Merlin! Lily, that's never good!"

"Be quiet. I was thinking that maybe, _maybe_you could teach me, Lizzie, Rhiannon, Eden and Rebecca how to become..." I drifted off expectantly.

"Animagi?" he asked, raising his eyebrows questioningly. I nodded. "Lily, that's not really the best idea..."

"Please!"

"Lily, we are breaking the law! We could end up in Azkaban if somebody found out! It took us two years to make ourselves animagi, it's really hard – what if you got injured during the process?" he said, for once taking the sensible, rational attitude – the one time I didn't want him to speak with sagacity.

"But James–"

"No buts, Lily. I'm sorry – I would love for you to become an animagus. But for one it's too time-consuming, it's dangerous and being an illegal animagus could get you locked up in prison!" he protested.

"Okay," I said reluctantly, and privately decided to beg him again another time.

Suddenly, he turned towards me again looking curious. "What would you all turn into anyway? I know your patronus is a doe – that's what you'd be... but what about the others?"

"Well, you know how patronuses are supposed to kind of match your personality? Well, what would you say if I asked you to describe Lizzie?" I asked.

"I'd say... she's intellectual, kind and sort of pretty in an understated way," he summarised.

"Exactly. Her patronus is a snowy owl – Rhiannon, being gorgeous, witty and clever has a unicorn patronus. Eden – you'll laugh at this – has a monkey, because she's sarcastic, sharp and mischievous. And Rebecca, well she's exotic, beautiful and quiet, so her patronus is a butterfly," I explained.

"Wow, they really do fit them all," he remarked.

"So – a fancy dress Halloween party in here after the feast? Eight till late?" I asked.

"With any luck, late'll be about four in the morning – hey, we could do an all nighter! We could invite Sirius to be the singing entertainment, and we could do a duet!" James said actively.

"Hmmn, yes, well, it's an idea," I agreed slowly. "Hang on – Halloween's on a Monday this year! How on earth will we recover after an all nighter?" Sometimes I swear James was actually _insane_.

"Well, go to bed early Tuesday night, and drink some wide-awake potion or something?" he offered.

"Okay," I grinned. All nighter? Sounded fun – I couldn't believe I, Lily Evans, was planning an all nighter Halloween fancy dress party with James Potter, my_ boyfriend_. Two years ago, I would not have believed this to be true.

*

Before the celebratory feast on October the thirty-first, I lay my costume out on my bed ready for the party afterwards. After the feast, we would have half an hour to get everything perfect before the guests started arriving.

I had chosen to go as Boudicca because apart from Queen Elizabeth I, she was the only redhead character I could think of.

Plus the whole Boudicca warrior princess costume looked great.

I had decided to keep what I was dressing as a secret from everybody else – which is what we had all decided to do. Everyone we knew that we liked had been invited, and promised to meet outside the Heads' common room at eight for the party. I couldn't wait – first was the Halloween feast, in which I would be stuffed to the brim with food, and then secondly was the party, in which I would eat more food, become overly hyper and not get any sleep all night. It would be fun.

I heard James call my name, and I left my room so we could go down to the Great Hall together.

"Ready to party?" he asked, grinning impishly as we glanced over the decorated common room. James and I had conjured up lots of black and orange streamers, cobwebs, sheets and things and James had also transfigured some old books into tombstones on which he had written his favourite Slytherins' names.

Thoughtful.

The overall effect was quite impressive, we agreed. We shared a quick kiss before exiting the common room – and nearly barging into Charli Minton, who was standing outside the portrait alone.

She positively beamed when she saw James, and gave a curt nod to me.

"James, I mean, Potter, erm, I'm having some issues with my prefect duty. The other Slytherin prefect, Rodolphus Lestrange, well, he doesn't turn up. And..." she whispered the remaining part of this into James' ear – in a notably seductive voice. Now I wasn't having this.

"Excuse me, Miss Minton. There is no need to fawn over my boyfriend – I know for a _fact _Rodolphus Lestrange does turn up for prefect duty as it is the only thing he does turn up for – so stop making pathetic excuses to talk to him. He's mine – so back off!" I scowled ferociously at her. For a minute, she looked a bit scared, and then she hissed something which sounded suspiciously like a horrible insult, and stalked off.

"Whoa Lily! Calm down sweetie!" James said.

"Stupid slithering serpent!" I cursed, looking at Charli's back that was running away from us.

"So... I'm yours, eh? I fail to see your name tattooed across my chest..." James said suggestively.

"Really James, because I believe in second year you told me you'd had 'I love Lily' tattooed in a place you wouldn't mention. Care to enlighten me?" I said flirtatiously.

He pulled me behind a tapestry, into a hidden alcove.

"I don't mind showing it to you Lily," he murmured.

"Don't bother James, I do want to keep my dinner down," I laughed. He grinned.

"Aw, sweet petal, why must you be so hard on me?" he whined in a little baby voice.

"To keep your rampant hormones in check," I giggled, and he kissed me passionately.

*

After the feast, I found myself back in my bedroom, dressing myself in my Boudicca costume.

I brushed my hair out, curled the ends and made it look really frizzy (to be honest, it didn't need much help) to give me the warrior princess look.

"Lily, are you ready?" James yelled. I took one last look in the mirror, and smiled.

"Yes!" I called back, and emerged out of my room.

"Wow, Lily, you look great!" he complimented me, drinking in the whole effect of my knee-length royal blue dress, red cloak, brown leather belt, play sword, gladiator sandals, my shield and my ornate battle queen headdress. "Er... who are you supposed to be?"

"Honestly James, don't you know anything about ancient history? I'm Boudicca," I explained exasperatedly.

"Boudi-_who_?" he asked.

"Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni tribe in the Roman times. She's supposed to be buried under Kings Cross station," I told him.

"Whoever she was, she was dead sexy," he purred, and kissed my cheek.

"And let me guess – who are you?" I asked, amused, looking at his smart black suit, white shirt and black bow tie. He actually managed to slick his hair back so it would lie flat on his head – it looked really weird but kind of attractive.

"The name's Potter. James Potter," he grinned.

"Ah, James Bond," I said.

"No, James _Potter_," he said roguishly.

"Come on, we'd better let people in!" I said, and we rushed to the portrait, and pushed it open. Outside stood about fifty people – that we were planning to squeeze into our common room. James had put the table to the side, so that it could be used for snacks – and later some entertainment provided by him and Sirius, which I was quite frankly dreading...

We stood there whilst we admitted most of the Gryffindor tower, some of the prefects, Beatrice, Emmeline, Emily, Marlene and Elena, Fabian and Gideon (who grinned and promised James that they'd bought some fireworks – which I was quite worried about) – and then the Marauders and their respective girlfriends, plus Jasper and Rhiannon, and Eden – who seemed to have a date in Rhys Wilkes!

It's not as if Eden wasn't pretty, because she most definitely was, she just didn't seem that interested in boys. But she smiled at me, mouthed the message that she'd tell me about it later, and came in. The Marauders followed.

When everybody was in there, I could look properly at peoples' costumes – it seemed most of the couples had come in matching pairs. Remus was dressed as Prince Charming and Rebecca as a princess, Sleeping Beauty by the look of it. They were sitting very close in one of the armchairs, giggling about something and sipping Butterbeer.

Rhiannon had come as Cleopatra – I had to explain to James who Cleopatra was ("Queen of the Nile, James, the last Pharoah! Are you historically stupid?") and when Jasper declared himself as Marc Anthony, I also had to fill him in on that character as well ("Cleopatra's lover, James. She had one child with Julius Caesar – I might as well tell you he was a Roman Emperor – and three with Marc Anthony," to which he replied, "Well she was a bit of a goer wasn't she?" and I responded, "No, James. She was one of the most influential and powerful women in history." That silenced him).

Sirius and Lizzie had also come as a pair. Lizzie was wearing a medieval style dress in a flowery olive fabric that was pulled in by a corset-like brown leather belt at the waist, and her hair was long and wavy with a French plait across her forehead. And Sirius had come wearing a dark green tunic with a brown belt around his hips, _tights_ (which he proclaimed to be quite comfortable and to make his legs look slim), and brown slouchy leather boots. As an accessory, he had a bow and arrow and on his head was a green hat with a feather sticking out of it. Fortunately, James didn't need any help to discover who they were dressed as – Maid Marian and Robin Hood – but instead said, "Merlin, was there some kind of history theme I didn't know about?"

Eden and Rhys Wilkes weren't dressed as a pair – Eden was dressed as the muggle superhero Wonder Woman, in a red and gold strapless top, electric blue shorts covered in white stars, a gold belt, red and white boots, a gold crown and gold bracelets. Her shoulder-length dark hair was down and straight, and she was getting approving looks from most of the male population present. Rhys, however, had managed to transfigure some of his appearance so that he now looked like _Professor Dumbledore_. The resemblance was uncanny, and he looked hilarious!

Peter – poor Peter – had come as a cowboy, complete with a lasso, hat, boots and chaps over a pair of jeans, and a fringed waistcoat. I felt exceedingly sorry for him because when he was staring at Beatrice and her friends, Sirius snuck up behind him (poking him with his bow and arrow), and said, "Hey, Wormy, why don't you lasso those fit girls over?"

Lizzie scolded him for this – she had a soft spot for Peter – but then they went back to gazing lovingly into each other's eyes.

The party was certainly entertaining – Frank Longbottom and Alice Little were sat talking to two people who had dressed up (I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this) as _James and Sirius_. I didn't quite know who they were – I presumed they were Gryffindors who Sirius had roped into helping them with a prank and were now trusted mischief helpers or something like that – but one of them had short black hair, messed up, hazel eyes and glasses, and the other long, shoulder-length curly hair and the same sort of cocky, arrogant smile that was so often on Sirius' face. There was an obvious difference between the real Sirius and James and these imposters – for one thing, the boy who was dressed as James was nowhere near as good looking as the real thing.

Well, I pride myself on being observant.

Suddenly, I was aware of two people standing on our table, amid the platefuls of snacks and sweets.

"OI!" James yelled. Everybody turned to face him and Sirius. "We all know how much you enjoy listening to us singing," he grinned.

"Yeah, because we do it for every bloody occasion!" Sirius added.

"So we have good-heartedly decided not to deprive you of listening to our superstar talent, and have made the executive decision – sorry, Lily – to begin this all night party with a concert extravaganza! Therefore, let us begin!" James continued.

"James, you're making something very exciting and splendiferous sound like potions homework. Basically, let's party!" Sirius yelled, punching the air, before launching into song.

"TONIGHT... GONNA HAVE MYSELF, A REAL GOOD TIME... I FEEL ALIVE..." he began in a slow, mournful voice. However, it soon sped up, and they had everyone jumping up and down punching the air.

"I'M A SHOOTING STAR LEAPING THROUGH THE SKY!" James roared, doing a little ballet-like prance that I suppose was his impression of shooting star.

"LIKE A TIGER, DEFYING THE LAWS OF GRAVITY!" Sirius hollered, and then growled, and levitated himself in the air.

Then I remembered the next line of the song, and prayed that neither of them were going to re-enact it...

"I'M A RACING CAR PASSING BY, LIKE _LADY GODIVA_!" James screeched, and then he and Sirius looked at each other – for a horrible moment I thought they were going to strip or something to relive the Lady Godiva moment – but instead, thank Merlin, they jumped into the crowd, singing,

"THAT'S WHY THEY CALL ME MR FAHRENHEIT!"

"I'M GONNA MAKE A SUPERSONIC MAN OUT OF YOU!"

"DON'T STOP ME NOW, I'M HAVING SUCH A GOOD TIME, I'M HAVING A BALL!" they screamed in unison.

It made me laugh – Robin Hood and James Bond crowd-surfing whilst singing a rock song.

Now this was something you did _not_ see every day.

Eventually, after two more songs, a lot more daring stage routines, in which Sirius very nearly snapped his hand off in the window (don't ask) and James nearly fell into the lit fireplace (again, don't ask), they eventually stopped and managed to start playing some of Sirius' muggle rock music and we all began to dance together.

"Now, Boudicca, would you like to dance?" James asked me in a very slick way that reminded me much of James Bond.

"Of course, Mr Bond," I smiled, and we began to dance.

We looked around – it was like some kind of parody, or we were in an alternative universe where our teachers danced with superheroes and you found some of the most famous historical figures dancing together to rock music. After all, Professor Dumbledore was dancing – rather close – to Wonder Woman; Prince Charming and Sleeping Beauty were spinning round fast to the quick beat of the song; Robin Hood and Lady Marian were gazing into each other's eyes like lovesick puppies (in an incredibly sweet way of course); Cleopatra and Marc Anthony were looking at each other so hungrily it was like they were going to devour one another; James and Sirius (the imposters) were dancing with Tinkerbell and the bride of Dracula.

I caught James' eye, and we carried on staring at each other the whole night – some may call it psychotic, but I call it romantic. Romance was definitely in the air as we danced away to the music.

At four in the morning, people were getting tired and the fake James and Sirius were fast asleep on our sofa – James with his arm around the aforementioned Tinkerbell and Sirius with his legs resting on a curled up cowboy (Peter) who had fallen asleep at about one on the floor. Beatrice had stopped flirting with Carlisle, Fabian and Gideon's friend, who was talking to Steph Villade – dressed in a mermaid costume – very closely. Steph was giggling away with him by the fireplace.

Fabian and Gideon had taken to setting off the fireworks they had promised to James earlier. Unfortunately, this did not wake up the sleeping guests (although ninety percent of the guests were still dancing away like energised ballerinas) but instead showered the room with multi-coloured sparks and ended up setting one of the Slytherin tombstones on fire – the tombstone James had carved 'Lucius Malfoy' on to. They were also trying to impress Emmeline Vance and Emily Myers, whilst Beatrice and Marlene danced with some Ravenclaw prefects.

"Enjoying the party?" James asked, passing me a bottle of Butterbeer. We were leaning on the side of the table, and watching everybody else – but I was surreptitiously observing him.

"Yeah – I can't believe that I, Lily Evans, Head Girl, am partying all night with a boy that I hated until about three years ago!" I exclaimed.

"Three years ago? You mean you liked me all of fifth year?" he grinned, looking at me disbelievingly.

"Erm, er, kind of, yeah..." I smiled sheepishly. Should I confess to him about the Polyjuice Potion? I really wanted to... I thought James would find it amusing, more than anything, as it was a very Marauder-like thing to do, but I didn't know whether Lizzie would kill me afterwards.

Anyway, she was too busy dancing with Robin Hood, who kept poking everybody with his bow and arrow.

"Now I understand everything at the Masquerade Ball," he said, nodding slowly. "Lizzie quizzing me about whether I truly liked you? I asked you out about three times a day Lily! Couldn't you have said yes and stopped torturing me?" he smiled at this.

"I have a confession to make..." I said. He nodded, looking undeniably interested. "It wasn't Lizzie who quizzed you. And I didn't say yes because I didn't think you meant it, that it had just become a long-standing joke."

"Aw, my petal, how could you ever think that? I told Lizzie exactly what I thought of you, I said that you were–"

"Amazing, clever, pretty, beautiful, kind, nice, caring, lovely... you said I was just perfect," I recited. James Potter's words had stuck with me since that day.

"What, did Lizzie tell you? I'm having words with that girl!" he said mock-angrily.

"No, she didn't tell me. Remember what I said? That it wasn't Lizzie who quizzed you?" I prompted him.

"What the Merl– oh my Merlin! It was you, as Lizzie, wasn't it? Polyjuice Potion!" he suddenly exclaimed. I nodded, laughing. "My, my Lily... breaking the rules just to find out if I really liked you!"

"You're not angry are you?" I asked, suddenly panic-stricken.

"No, my petal, that is the sweetest thing I ever heard," he whispered. "I remember something else you told me..."

"Yes?" I asked, intrigued and also smelling James' irresistible scent – he was standing so close...

"You liked me picking you up," he grinned, and suddenly picked me up, and ran round the common room with me, whilst I squealed with laughter.

"I love you picking me up," I murmured in his ear, and he began to carry me up the stairs to the top of the tower – we hadn't told anyone about this place. James had taken the liberty of telling Sirius about the gold toilet – and they had had a gold toilet party in James' bathroom to christen the toilet, in Sirius' exceptionally crude words, 'The New Official Marauder Bog'. I swear, I didn't know how Lizzie put up with him.

We were standing up there, underneath the stars, holding hands, gazing into each other's eyes – hazel meeting emerald, emerald meeting hazel – until daybreak.

_

* * *

_

Thanks for reading!! Please review for the next chapter which involves some Sirius and James singing... have a great new year!

:) x Lily Orange x (;


	31. Giant Squids, Friends And Romance

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: I'm sorry about the length of this chapter, it's quite short, but the next one is COLOSSAL. Absolutely MASSIVE. So I hope you enjoy it ;) Thank you to NJ, clueless c, shroomy-eyes, Eternally Inquisitive, Stephie Cat-Kat, wannabe witch11, vanillabean18, sarlovesoccer and .limits111 for reviewing; thank you to Eternally Inquisitive and HelloxXxGoodbye for adding my story to your favourites and thank you to Eternally Inquisitive, clueless c, ilydeleo and Lila O'Conner for adding my story to your alert subscriptions!

* * *

**Chapter Thirty**

**GIANT SQUIDS, FRIENDS AND ROMANCE**

Weeks later, at the start of December, people were still talking about the party we'd held. Most of the guests had zonked out in lessons that day – much to the annoyance of the teachers, who fortunately hadn't heard anything of what had gone on in the common room – so the Marauders managed to circulate an anti-tiredness potion at lunchtime to all those who attended.

Sitting at the lunch table, I looked around at us all. James and I sat together, Sirius and Lizzie together, Rhiannon and Jasper, Remus and Rebecca, Peter on his own (but perfectly content, especially when Lizzie gave him a Chocolate Cauldron – not something she does every day) and Eden with Rhys Wilkes.

Eden had filled me in on the Rhys Wilkes thing the day after the party – James had invited him, and in her Care of Magical Creatures class, she had partnered with him, James and Sirius having gone together, and none of the rest of us had taken that subject. They had got talking, and he had asked her if she would go to the party with him. He knew she was already invited, being one of our closest friends and everything, but confessed that he had liked her for ages.

And apparently, the feeling was mutual. So Eden said yes. It was as simple as that – and after that little chat, they continued to talk avidly about Quidditch for the rest of the lesson.

And I had wangled it so that Rhys was now invited to Petunia's wedding reception – I loved my parents so much for getting all this sorted for me. There were now ten of us going, instead of the previous number of nine. I felt sorry for Peter, as he had been invited, but his mother had seriously objected to him spending any time in the company of such an amount of muggles.

Looking down the table, I saw Beatrice, Elena, Emmeline, Emily, Marlene and Steph. Steph was sat very close to Carlisle – Rebecca had confided in me that Carlisle and Steph were partners in potions, thus meaning they had to go to the library to study and complete their homework, and last Wednesday, she had caught them sharing a kiss behind a bookshelf – and Beatrice, Marlene and Elena were talking fervently about something or other. Apparently, James' little fan club – formerly led by Beatrice, who practically fainted when James nicknamed her Bea – had been discontinued, and Beatrice had now set her eyes on some Ravenclaw boy called Ricky or something like that, who was apparently taken by a very beautiful and entrancing girl from Hufflepuff, who was something like an eighth Veela, and was having a hard time competing due to this family fact.

Fabian was trying eagerly to impress Emmeline Vance with a joke, and Gideon was already laughing hard with Emily Myers.

"Hey, who wants to spend our free period down at the lake, by the tree?" Sirius suggested – every body's free periods coincided with each other on that particular afternoon.

"Isn't it a little cold?" I asked.

"Don't worry, Prongs'll keep you warm," he snickered.

"Go on then," Remus said, his arm around Rebecca.

"Does somebody pay him to come up with crazy ideas?" I whispered in James' ear, who smirked.

"Nah, comes up with them all by himself. Has a crazy idea generator in his brain," James grinned. He put his arm around me, sharing his body heat. I wanted to stay there forever.

I remembered my thoughts about where we would live when we left Hogwarts. Would I live with my parents, or James? I loved my parents and everything... but there was nobody in the world I loved more than James...

"James?" I asked quietly, not wanting the others to hear my silly little concerns. James wouldn't find them silly. Not at all.

"Yes, my petal?" he replied.

"Where will we live when we leave Hogwarts?" I questioned him.

"I don't know, Lily, where would you like to live? If you could have anywhere in the world, where would you live?" he asked.

"Godric's Hollow," I replied, remembering reading about that it was where Godric Gryffindor came from.

"Then we will live there, then," he said firmly, planting a kiss on the end of my nose.

"But how will we afford it?" I asked.

"That's no issue. As long as we're together – together and happy, we'll be fine," he smiled.

*

"Hey LILY!" I heard Sirius' arrogant voice from beside the Black Lake. James and I had dragged behind a bit, and Sirius and Lizzie had been there first.

"What?" I yelled back.

"Remember in fifth year when you said you'd rather go out with the giant squid than with our Prongs?" he grinned wickedly. I did not like where this was going – James was grinning too, but in an amused way, not in the sort of way that Sirius was grinning – like he was going to chuck me in the lake.

I could now sympathise with dear Malcolm by the reservoir – Sirius was indeed a scary character.

"Erm, yes?" I said nervously.

"Well little ol' squiddy is on the edges today!" Sirius grinned, and pointed to the edge of the lake, where the giant squid was indeed basking in the shallows.

"That's nice," I answered him.

"It is, isn't it?" Sirius said, and sat down beside Lizzie, hugging her close.

"Padfoot, what _precisely_ was the point in that?" Remus laughed.

"Nothing. Just felt like reminiscing," he said in an old nostalgic voice.

"Hmmn, yes, Padfoot, do you know what I feel like reminiscing about?" James said, grinning widely.

"Ooh no, please tell me, dear Prongsy," Sirius replied eagerly.

"Remember Christmas in fourth year?"

"The karaoke competition! How could I forget? I must have sung about two kabillion songs that evening!" Sirius clapped his hands together.

"Padfoot – first of all, a _kabillion _is not a mathematically recognised number. And second of all, I believe the total was more like _four_," Remus smirked.

"Well four is still a lot of songs!" Sirius protested.

"I believe it is," Remus replied absentmindedly, gazing into Rebecca's grey eyes.

"But I think we need a reprisal – a special song for my lovely Lizzie," he said, and kissed Lizzie's hand, and she blushed. He stood up, and opened his mouth wide, about to sing...

"OOH MY LITTLE PRETTY ONE! MY PRETTY ONE! WHEN YOU GONNA GIVE ME SOME TIIIIIIIIME, SHARONA? OOH YOU MAKE MY MOTOR RUN! MY MOTOR RUN!" Sirius bellowed, dancing madly, somehow blending a moonwalk and a star jump together so that he was doing the moonwalk in mid air with his hands flapping wildly.

"GUN IT COMIN' OFF THE LINE, SHARONA! NEVER GONNA STOP, GIVE IT UP, SUCH A DIRTY MIND!" he screeched.

"You're not kidding," Eden grinned, looking at Rhys, who was looking highly amused.

"Well done Padfoot!" James cut across him, and took his place in front of us. "Now it's time I sung something for my dear Lily," he smiled at me.

Suddenly, he started trying to play guitar. I swear, it was the _funniest _thing you have ever seen! Then he began to sing:

"ARE TEENAGE DREAMS SO HARD TO BEAT? EVERY TIME SHE WALKS DOWN THE STREET! ANOTHER GIRL IN MY NEIGHBOURHOOD... WISH SHE WAS MINE, SHE LOOKS SO GOOD!" he hollered, and I swear other students who were (incredibly stupidly) outside as well could hear him.

"I WANNA HOLD YOU WANNA HOLD YOU TIGHT, GET TEENAGE KICKS RIGHT THROUGH THE NIGHT!" he concluded, and kissed me passionately in front of everybody.

"Get a room!" Sirius yelled, but when we broke apart, we saw him kissed Lizzie repeatedly, so James spat –

"Hypocrite!"

"I never said I wasn't a hypocrite, Prongs!" he grinned back at James, and everybody continued to shower their girlfriends with affection – except Peter, who had his nose in a book – _Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_.

_

* * *

_

_I hope you liked that chapter - and I realise I haven't listed the songs recently, so here goes: _ "I Want You To Want Me"_, Cheap Trick (1977); _"Don't Stop Me Now"_, Queen (1979); _"My Sharona"_, The Knack (1979) and _"Teenage Kicks"_, The Undertones (1978). All are absolutely brilliant songs :) Please review for the next one which is rather huge and involves much romance and some Christmassy spirit! Thanks for reading!_

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	32. The Uniting Of The Walrus And The Horse

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: Hello!! This is the biggest chapter of the story, quite possibly able to rival King Kong in size :P Thank you to Lollypop and .snivellus for reviewing; thank you to FangxMaxForever for adding my story to your favourites and thank you to FangxMaxForever, evilrobinbird, and TheHeartNeverLies442 for adding my story to your alert subscriptions! I hope you like this chapter - and, as a little clue, I suggest you listen to "Wonderwall" by Oasis...

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-One**

**THE UNITING OF THE WALRUS AND THE HORSE**

"I cannot get my stupid clothes in my suitcase!" Rhiannon growled, sitting – for about the tenth time – on top of her trunk in order to make it shut. Unfortunately, for about the tenth time, it wasn't working.

Lizzie, practically a suitcase-packing sorceress, marched over to examine the offending trunk. "Merlin, Rhiannon, what on earth have you got in here?"

"Just a few essentials..." she shrugged.

"Rhiannon, we're going away for three weeks!" Eden laughed, placing careful emphasis on the length of time we would be holidaying for.

"I know, but think: first we have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, then the wedding reception on New Years' Eve! I know I'm apparating to the reception with Jasper, but I'm staying with him for Christmas Eve and Day, plus we'll probably come and join you for a bit before the wedding, Lily, because Petunia, in all probability, will be acting like the bride from hell and you will need rescuing," Rhiannon explained.

"And you need all zose clothes for zat?" Rebecca smiled. Rhiannon nodded.

"There's only one way to solve it – an engorgement charm," Lizzie said.

"But that'll make my suitcase really heavy!" Rhiannon objected.

"Rhiannon, sweetie, it's going to be heavy enough with all your stuff in there, so enlarging it slightly is not going to hurt. And if all else fails, I'm sure Jasper will carry it for you," Lizzie reasoned. Rhiannon beamed at the mention of her beloved boyfriend.

"What are you doing for Christmas Eve and Day, anyway, Lily?" Lizzie asked me as she performed the engorgement charm.

"Up until Christmas Eve, James is staying with me, then Christmas Eve, I'm going to James' house for the day, and then he's coming back to my house on Christmas Day for lunch and then the evening, and on Boxing Day he's going back. Then of course I have to help my stupid sister sort out all her wedding issues," I answered, leaning against Lizzie's bed. I didn't even sleep in this room now – I had come to help the girls finish with their packing, and James and I had left the Heads' common room a half hour previously.

"Cool. I'm going to be there on Christmas Eve!" Lizzie exclaimed excitedly – "Mr and Mrs Potter said because James was inviting someone Sirius could invite someone too, so he said me!"

"Sirius is like their second son," I added. "He and James are practically brothers."

"What about you Rebecca?" Rhiannon asked. Rebecca was already packed and wrapped up in her grey coat, gloves and scarf.

"Remus is coming to my house for Christmas dinner," she smiled happily.

"That'll be really nice, I bet," Rhiannon said kindly. "And you, Eden?"

"My parents have gone to Barbados for Christmas," she said, "so Rhys is allowed to stay at mine. Unfortunately, they left my big brother behind who's training to be a healer – so he'll be keeping tabs on me and Rhys all holiday! And of course, we're coming to the wedding reception on New Year's Eve!"

"Sounds like we're all going to be having a good time at Christmas," I said, secretly slightly looking forward to helping my sister with the last minute plans for the wedding. I adored weddings, so this would be brilliant. I was planning to take James into muggle London to buy his suit the day after we returned home. I had already taken care of my own outfit – an emerald green strapless knee-length dress with a full skirt and matching high heels. I had a jacket that would go with it to go over the top too – I didn't want to freeze on the way from the church to the hotel where the reception was being held!

Rhiannon glanced at her watch. "We'd better go down and meet the boys in the Entrance Hall, and then we can go down to Hogsmeade station," she said, and we picked up our suitcases, and left our room.

The boys were waiting for us in the Entrance Hall, wrapped up in coats and jumpers to brave the cold outdoors. James and I walked side by side down to the carriages which would take us and our luggage down to Hogsmeade station – being eleven of us, and the carriages seating six, we took two, Sirius, Lizzie, Rhiannon, Jasper, James and I in one; Rebecca, Remus, Eden, Rhys and Peter in the other behind us.

Not many people were going home for Christmas that year, so the train was pretty much empty apart from two full compartments up the front containing giggly Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw first years and a compartment in the middle which seated four Slytherin third years.

Because there were so many of us, we all squeezed into the biggest compartment there was, which could seat eight people – sitting on laps ensued. At least the compartment was kept warm, unlike the bitter temperatures outside.

I was sat on James' lap, and he was stroking my hair. It was nice and peaceful, and it seemed that even _Sirius_ wasn't feeling very hyper and was choosing to talk in a hushed voice to Lizzie, who was beaming at him.

"Well this is cosy, isn't it?" Sirius laughed, and hugged Lizzie tightly. "Is everybody looking forward to Lily's sister's wedding reception?"

In fact, James and I had given this a private nickname – the uniting of the walrus and the horse. It had a kind of ring to it, and that's what we referred to now if we ever spoke about the wedding. I voiced this to Sirius, who roared with laughter, practically the whole Hogwarts Express shook at the force of his guffaws.

*

We apparated to my house from Kings Cross. We came out in the little group of trees that we had apparated to James' grandparents' house in the summer from – and had had an hour delay leaving...

"Are you sure it's still okay for me to stay?" James asked.

"Of course," I replied, "how am I supposed to get through Christmas with Petunia without you, James?"

He grinned.

Knocking on the front door, it was soon banged open by none other than the bride-to-be herself – dressed in a floral dressing gown with rollers in her hair. From what my mum had told me in her last letter, she was going out with Vernon tonight – their last date before they married.

To tell the truth, Petunia looked a fright. Her blonde hair was pulled back frightfully tight in the rollers, her face was deathly pale with the absence of makeup and her skin was taut. She looked stick thin in the dressing gown, and it was all we could do to suppress laughter when she saw us two.

I'm positive that if it had just been me, she would have admitted me into the house without a second thought, perhaps muttering something to do with the word "freak" under her breath. But because James was there too, her mouth opened as wide as it could go, and then clamped shut quickly, as if she was some kind of goldfish or something. She suddenly reddened, and quickly left the door so that we could pull our trunks in. No insults or rants.

"Lily! And James, how are you? I trust you are both well?" Mum asked, emerging from the kitchen, hugging us both.

"Fine, thank you, Mrs Evans," James replied politely, earning an extra smile from mum.

"Lily, your Dad's just popped to the shops to buy some lettuce – we seemed to have run out. He'll be back in about half an hour – do you want to show James his room and you could go out for a walk or something?" she said brightly, and then whispered, "Petunia's going pre-date crazy. I'd leave the house for a bit if I were you."

"Yeah, sounds like a great idea!" I smiled, and we took our trunks upstairs – I showed James the spare room, and dumped my own suitcase in my room. It hadn't changed a bit since I'd left – except mum had been in to clean of course. I glanced out the window to look at my snow-covered back garden. The empty summerhouse looked very inviting for James and I, especially as it was partly shielded from view by a conifer tree...

"Lily!" I heard somebody screech behind me, snapping me out of my little day-dreaming trance. It was Petunia, now roller free, her hair falling in admittedly nice-looking soft curls to her shoulders.

"Yes, Tuney?" I said, using my old nickname for her.

"I cannot find my lipstick, _have you got my lipstick_?" she growled.

"Tuney, I have been in the house all of two minutes. One of those was spent talking to mum downstairs. The other was spent showing James his room. And you think, in that time, I could steal your lipstick? When I don't even know where you keep it?" I replied coolly.

"Freaks like you can sense where I keep my lipsticks," she responded nastily.

"What colour is it anyway?" I asked, intrigued.

"Scarlet."

"I rest my case – would I steal a red lipstick that would clash so horribly with my hair?"

I had managed to stump her with this one, and at this point, James wandered into my room, asking if I was ready to go out on the walk that I'd said about earlier.

Petunia immediately disappeared at the sight of James, slamming her bedroom door behind her.

"Oh Merlin yes," I replied, and we left the house, hand in hand.

We ambled along the road, and out onto the communal fields at the back. There were some kids playing in the snow. I remembered when I was younger, I used to do that.

"Fancy building a snowman, my petal?" James grinned playfully.

"A snowman, James? We're seventeen!" I said in a reproachful voice. "Snow is for throwing!" I yelled, and grabbed a handful of snow, and threw it at him.

"Oh Lily, you are going down!" he yelled, as I ran away squealing. He chased after me with fistfuls of snow.

"Do you surrender?" he called as I carried on sprinting around the field, much to the amusement of the kids who had now stopped playing and were watching us as their preferred entertainment.

"Never!" I bellowed, but tripped over a big pile of snow when I turned round to look at him behind me.

"Merlin!" I heard James curse, and he tripped over the very same pile and was now lying beside me in the snow.

"Have you ever thought about how much of a romantic setting the snow is?" I asked him thoughtfully.

"Constantly," he replied, and kissed me. This earned cheers and whoops of joy from the observing children, who seemed to have been enjoying our little escapade.

*

The next day, the snow had melted a lot so James and I decided to take today as the day during which I would take James into muggle London shopping. I couldn't tell for sure whether or not he was enjoying the prospect of this – his girlfriend dragging him around shops looking for a suit – but I knew I would.

I picked up my bag, wrapped myself up in my new grey woolly coat and bounded down the stairs. Petunia was shut in her room – having got into the house at two in the morning after what was previously proposed as a dinner date with the walrus but then extended to the cinema afterwards – asleep, but I made no effort to be quiet. I would have to deal with her wrath later, but there was no way she'd say anything too horrible whilst James was standing there.

"Are you finally ready, Lily?" James exclaimed – he had been standing at the bottom of the stairs for about half an hour after I had told him I would be two minutes.

"Yep," I grinned, "ready to go?"

He nodded. My dad gave us a lift to the train station, and we bought tickets for the next train to London, which was due to leave in half an hour. Thus, we both bought hot chocolates from the cafe and went and sat on the platform. There were very few other people who were going to catch the train – a weary-looking mother with a toddler, a businessman, and a girl about mine and James' age with raven hair and olive skin who looked vaguely familiar. She seemed to recognise me slightly as she caught my eye, but I dismissed it as her having one of those familiar faces.

"I've never caught a train other than the Hogwarts Express before," James confessed, sipping his hot chocolate gingerly.

"Merlin, really?" I said in surprise. He nodded, and smiled. He kissed my cheek, and I giggled in a really girly way.

"Lily," he whispered a few minutes later, "why is that girl staring at you?"

We both very unsubtly looked at the raven-haired girl, who was indeed staring at me with a very fixed expression. Suddenly, she began to advance towards me.

"I hope she's not Bellatrix Lestrange after drinking Polyjuice Potion!" I muttered back, making James snort with laughter.

"Lily Evans?" the girl asked, smiling.

"Erm, yes," I replied nervously.

"Oh my gosh! Really? I don't know if you remember me – Vivienne Wyatt, from primary school? St Rose's?" she said eagerly. The cogs were whirring in my brain... I could remember her! She had been one of my closest friends at primary, and then went on to the same high school as Petunia, whilst I left to go to Hogwarts. We had since lost touch.

"Vivienne?" I asked incredulously, and she nodded. "Wow, I haven't seen you in years! How are you?"

"Good, thanks, good. How about you? How're you coping with school – you went to some boarding school in Scotland, didn't you?" she smiled.

"Yeah, fine, I love it there! How about you?" I replied.

"Great, thank you. I took Maths though – gosh it's confusing!" she tittered. I suddenly remembered that James was sat beside me.

"Vivienne, this is James, my boyfriend," I introduced him, and he shook her hand, and beamed at her. I watched her go visibly weak at the knees when he did this – I really wanted to know why he had this effect on people.

"Nice to meet you," she said politely. "Are you going into London too?"

"Yes, I'm taking James shopping," I said brightly. He groaned, making Vivienne laugh.

"We could meet up or something – I'm going to go and meet some of the girls at lunch, you could always come too, catch up on old times? It'll be Katy, Deborah and Farrah," Vivienne asked.

"I'm not sure we can, Viv, I'm sorry. My sister is getting married on New Year's Eve and we've only been given three hours' leave of the house to go and sort James' suit out for the wedding – perhaps after then?" I suggested.

"Yeah, that's cool," she agreed, and then we parted ways once the train pulled up.

"Who on earth was that?" James murmured as we took our seats in an empty carriage.

"Just an old school friend," I said.

"Nice girl," he commented.

"Oi you, don't go commenting on other girls," I said in a mock-angry voice.

"Jealous, are we?" he asked, amused, wiggling his eyebrows.

*

Muggle London was very busy – and I had to practically _drag _James past the Leaky Cauldron ("Aw, Lily, Quality Quidditch Supplies will have the new racing broom in the window!") so we could go to a shop to buy him a suit – seeing as he couldn't possibly wear dress robes.

"What colour suit would you prefer?" I asked, as we walked past racks and racks of suits in every colour under the sun.

"Red," he grinned.

"Are you being _serious_?" I gasped in horror, eyeing a scarlet suit that James was pointing at – on a man, it would have to be the tackiest thing I had ever seen. Especially as the lapels had studs on them.

"No, I'm James, actually. Glad to see you've noticed after a year and a half of going out!" he said in disgust – using the pun that annoyed me so much.

"Ha ha. _Not_ red. How about..." I drifted off, looking at all the different colour suits there was in the shop.

"Gold?" he suggested hopefully. I raised my eyebrows in disbelief.

"No, James. Gold is definitely not a good idea," I laughed.

"Aw, Lily, how about... RED AND GOLD!" he yelled, much to the amusement of the shop assistant, a young man of about twenty.

"Loving your loyalty to Gryffindor, James, but how about something more... demure? What about this?" I asked, picking up a navy suit.

"Hmmn, it's quite nice," James shrugged.

"Grey? I think this colour would suit you James," I said, picking up a grey suit.

"Yes, well, it's rather nice," James offered.

"Dark green! That'll look good – you might match me though... oh well, it may look cool!" I said enthusiastically, adding the forest green suit to the pile accumulating in his arms.

"Yeah, very nice," he said.

"Do you know any other adjectives rather than 'nice'?" I grinned.

"Er, yes? I know... lovely, pretty, beautiful, gorgeous, hot, sexy, dazzling, stunning, elegant, attractive, sweet, striking... except I think they are highly inappropriate for praising a suit," James smiled mischievously.

"Well, I suppose..."

"In fact, I'd use them to describe you, Lily dear," he said in a really sweet voice.

"Aw, thanks James, I'd use them to describe you too!" I beamed at him.

"Not that I don't appreciate it and everything – but you'd describe me as 'pretty' and 'elegant'? You're making me sound like a girl!" he wailed.

"Just try on the suits!" I giggled, and pushed him in the direction of the changing room whilst I made myself comfy on the leather sofa by the tie selection.

A few minutes later, he came out wearing the green suit. "Lily... I don't like this suit..." he moaned, tugging at the jacket.

I stood up. He looked pretty good actually – but not the super gorgeous look I was aiming for.

"I agree, it doesn't look quite right," I said slowly.

"Lily! You're supposed to say I look bloody SEXY in everything!" he grinned impishly.

"You do, of course, James, but perhaps you'll look even sexier in something else?" I suggested.

"Alright, I'll try the navy one on," he grumbled. I sat back down, playing with my necklace.

"VOILA!" he bellowed. The shop assistant looked up – if he hadn't have found mine and James' presence so amusing I don't think he would have put up with us.

In the navy suit, James looked good. Great, actually, but it wasn't the whole _shebang_. Obviously, he repeated his sexy comment again, made me bow down at his feet, and retreated back into the changing room to get into the grey suit.

"Lily, I like this one!" I heard him say, as he emerged from the dressing room.

I was not surprised he liked this one – he looked... words can't exactly express my feelings at how he looked. But he looked... quite frankly, brilliant.

"You're having that," I whispered, grabbing a skinny black tie from the tie rack and a plain white shirt, and he changed out of it, and took it to the counter.

"Going somewhere nice?" the assistant asked politely.

"My sister is getting married," I told him.

"Ah, last minute suit shopping," he nodded his head knowledgeably, making James snort with laughter.

"Yeah, you could say that," I smiled, as James handed over his (muggle) money.

"Going anywhere else in London today?" the assistant continued.

"Ooh, Lily, can we go to Buckerton Palace?" James squealed excitedly, clapping his hands like a child.

"You mean Buckingham Palace?"

"Yeah, that's the one. Can we meet the queen? Can we have tea and cake with her – oh, and can I try on one of those furry hats that the hamburgers wear?" he asked. The assistant looked like he was about to explode with laughter.

"I think, by hamburgers, you mean beefeaters," I grinned.

"Er, yeah – can we, Lily, can we? Please?" he begged, grabbing the bag and thanking the assistant.

"I suppose so," I sighed, and we left the shop and headed towards Buckingham Palace. James was immediately fascinated by the guards, who had stony looks on their faces and weren't laughing.

"Lily," he whispered, "why do those guards look like Voldemort's just killed their next-door neighbour?"

"They're not allowed to smile," I said back.

"What? _Not smiling_? Where is dear Padfoot at times like these! How do they live without smiling? I'm going to have to change this!" he said determinedly, and marched up to one of the guards, who showed no recognition of the fact that a tall, bespectacled seventeen-year-old boy was standing in front of him.

"Excuse me, Mr Guardy, sir, could I test a joke on you?" James asked politely. All the guard did was sniff slightly. "I'll take that as a yes then," James continued, "well, a man went to another man, and said, 'My dog's got no nose,' and the other man replied, 'Well, how does he smell?' and the first man replied, 'Terrible.'"

The guard did not laugh.

"Alright then... you don't find dog jokes funny... how about... where did Robin Hood's merry men go to buy their sweets?" he asked. The guard showed no recognition. "The Friar Tuck-shop! Ha, ha, HA!" James laughed uncontrollably whilst the guard still had the same blank expression on his face.

"Er... what do you call a man who forgets to put his pants on? Nicholas!" he shrieked, laughing like a madman.

"Okay – I just _know_ you'll like this one! I can feel it in my bones!" James said, doing a little jig on the spot. The guard's eye moved slightly so he could see James' stupid little dance. "Why did the Little Mermaid look the other way? Because the seaweed!" Again, James guffawed like there was no tomorrow, and all the guard did was frown slightly.

"Actually, Lily," James said, turning to me, "talking off wee, I could really do with going... I'm sorry, but the toilet in your house is not satisfactory."

"Er, why?" I asked, perplexed – but not sure whether I wanted to _know_ his toilet preferences...

"Because, for one thing, it isn't gold like the one at school. Secondly, it doesn't sing when you flush it – even though the one at school didn't sing when you flushed it until Moony put a charmy thing on it so that it then sung 'Land of Hope and Glory', personally I think that adds a brilliant touch. Thirdly, it is not the 'Official Marauder Bog'!" he exclaimed. Suddenly, we heard a snort of laughter. We both spun round to look at the guard, who was rapidly recomposing his face.

"Did you laugh?" James demanded. The guard looked furtive. "YOU LAUGHED!" James bellowed. "YOU BROKE THE LAUGHING LAWS OF, er, erm... LAUGHING LAND!"

"Come on James, we need to go..." I grinned, dragging him away from poking the guard.

"He laughed, Lily, he laughed!" he shouted animatedly.

"I know," I giggled, and when we were nearly at the train station, we turned a corner, and kissed each other.

"How about we just apparate back – and spend the time we would have spent on the train in those fields?" he grinned naughtily.

"Oh, go on then," I smiled, and kissed him some more.

*

"LILY EVANS!"

I stirred, and lifted my eyelid open a fraction to ascertain what, or _who_, the source of the shouting was. It wasn't James – at least I didn't remember James possessing a lurid pink dressing gown...

"LILY, WAKE UP!" the bellowing figure shook my shoulder.

"_What_?" I replied groggily, eyes still closed. I turned over.

"You promised you'd come with me to the bridal shop to check the dress over before you went to that freak's house tomorrow!"

Now I recognised the voice. Petunia.

"Petunia, it's bloody..." I glanced at the clock, "... _seven_ in the morning! It's the day before Christmas Eve! Am I not _allowed_ to stay in bed in the morning?"

"No, not when you promised to go to the bridal studio with me. Get dressed, NOW! I have to drive there, and she's opening specially at eight for me so I can check the dress is perfect!" she moaned, and flounced out.

I dragged myself out of bed, and rubbed my eyes. I was aware of somebody's hands pushing my hair out of my face and planting a kiss on my forehead.

"Good morning, beautiful," James said, hugging me close. "Just came across the landing to see what the shouting was about..."

"Just Petunia, the bride from hell," I muttered back. "I have to go to the bridal shop with her... I'll be back around tennish, I think," I said.

"'S okay, I'll see you then, my petal," he whispered, and left the room.

I quickly dressed in some blue jeans, a cream jumper, boots and wrapped a scarf round my neck, and joined Petunia downstairs.

"Come on, freak, how long does it take you?" she moaned, banging the door open and ushering me through it.

"Well sorry," I muttered sarcastically under my breath, getting into her car.

She put the radio on abnormally loud – Christmas songs were playing constantly and Petunia decided she just _had _to sing to them...

After a particularly awful rendition of "Baby It's Cold Outside", I was then treated to "Santa Baby" – I was surprised the glass windows didn't shatter at the pitch of her singing.

Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, she parked the car outside a flashy-looking bridal shop called, rather originally, 'Beautiful Brides'. Petunia rushed in, and began exchanging pleasantries with the dressmaker, a woman called something like Wendy – I didn't quite catch her name.

"This is my sister, Lily," Petunia briefly introduced me, "she's going to give her opinion on the dress."

"Oh, lovely!" Wendy said, and produced a grey garment bag from a back room. "Here it is – would you like to take it into the dressing room and try it on?" Petunia nodded eagerly, snatched the garment bag, whilst Wendy brewed me a cup of tea and busied herself with organising a flower display.

"I've got it on!" Petunia called excitedly, and exited the dressing room.

I hadn't seen her wedding dress before – and, I had to admit it, it was nice. Whilst I employed some of James' choicest adjectives (I only extended to his favourite – nice), Petunia examined herself in the mirror. The dress was cream, strapless, a tight bodice until her hips where it became a full skirt, floor-length, with little beads embroidered onto it, which caught the light. The veil was the same cream colour, and contrasted quite nicely with her blonde hair. In actual fact, she looked lovely.

"Wow, Tuney, you certainly picked the best dress! You look lovely!" I complimented her. I saw her blush in gratitude, as she smoothed down the skirt. "Vernon is one lucky man."

"Thank you, Lily," she said quietly – she used Lily, not 'freak'! It had to be a miracle! "I'm glad you like it."

"Would you like to see the bridesmaid dresses?" Wendy asked, and I remembered mum saying they were wearing ice blue.

"Yes, please," Petunia said, still in awe at her own appearance. Secretly, I reckon Petunia was incredibly insecure. I could tell at the look in her eyes when she saw herself in the mirror looking so lovely.

Wendy produced an ice blue dress – it was simple, strapless, with a tight cream ribbon around the waist and a straight, flowing skirt. These were nice dresses too.

"Thanks, Wendy," Petunia said, as we left the shop, dresses packed carefully into the boot of her car.

I was looking forward to this wedding – and not for the previously outlined reason of getting rid of Petunia. No, I was anticipating seeing my sister so happy, and was incredibly pleased for her.

*

James and I stepped out of my front door, promised my mum and dad we'd be okay and back late that night, and walked hand in hand to the group of trees, where we would apparate to James' parents' house.

I was intrigued to see what their house was like, compared to his grandparents', which had been absolutely immense. When we had apparated, I opened my eyes, and was startled by the sight before me.

A huge Victorian house, surrounded by trees. It didn't have the sweeping lawns that his grandparents' house had, but it absolutely gorgeous. I could see a Christmas tree in every window of the ground floor, and a wreath on the door.

"Do you like it?" James asked nervously, and I nodded. "Come on, let's go in!" he grinned, and pulled me towards the front door as I giggled.

Before we had even reached the door step, it was flung open, by a grinning Sirius (who, by all accounts, lived here, and had done since the summer of fifth year), who was wearing a Santa hat and singing Christmas carols loudly and badly.

"ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU, PRONGSY!" he yelled, and hugged James tightly. I saw two adults emerge behind him – a man about an inch shorter than James who was the spitting image of him, except he had pale blue eyes, and a woman, with fiery red hair, much like my own, with the hazel eyes I was so accustomed to seeing glinting at me in James' face.

Of course, I knew his parents vaguely. I had seen them every year at King's Cross, but had never been formally introduced (apart from the usual point from James, and me hearing him stage whisper, "Look, Mum, Dad, that's Lily!") so James now broke free from Sirius, who ran back inside, singing loudly.

"Mum, Dad, this is Lily," he said, and they both beamed at me.

"It's very nice to meet you," I smiled anxiously, and Mrs Potter hugged me like I was her daughter or something. She was kind.

We were ushered inside, and sat down on the sofa in the large living room, and Sirius came bounding in like a child on a sweet high. No doubt, he was a child on a sweet high.

"When's Lizzie going to be here, Pads?" James asked.

"Any minute now, I think," he grinned, and began to put a record on.

"We'll be in the kitchen if you need us – come and get us when Lizzie gets here. We have to keep an eye on the food," Mr Potter said. No doubt they wanted to give us some alone time.

"LET'S PARTY LIKE IT'S 1978!" Sirius roared. James laughed, and got up, dancing madly to the track playing.

"Sirius, it's not quite yet 1978..." I said, amused, but James grabbed my arm, and we all continued to jump around the room like mad people. I never thought I'd be doing this when I came to meet James' parents.

"Oh – I forgot, I need to go and give your Mum and Dad the bottle of wine my parents gave me for them," I said to James, who nodded, and came with me through to the kitchen, whilst Sirius sat on the windowsill looking out for Lizzie.

"Mr and Mrs Potter? This is from my parents..." I grinned sheepishly as I handed over the present.

"Oh, that's so thoughtful!" Mrs Potter beamed.

"It's partly to say thank you for coming to my sister's wedding," I added.

"Oh yes, is she excited?" Mr Potter asked.

"Yeah... she's pretty much the bride from hell," James replied.

"James!" Mrs Potter scolded, but I affirmed his statement.

"I think it's just stress, and nerves," I continued, "she took me to see her wedding dress yesterday."

"Was it lovely?" Mrs Potter asked, soaking up the wedding details.

"She looked beautiful in it," I smiled.

"It's amazing how much a wedding can bring out the best in people," she said, smiling at her husband, who grinned back. James pretended to vomit whilst they weren't looking, making me have to suppress a giggle.

"LIZZIE'S HERE!" we heard Sirius bellow from the living room.

"I'm guessing Sirius' girlfriend is here then," Mr Potter laughed, and we all walked into the hall to see Sirius hugging Lizzie tightly. She was smiling like all of her dreams had just come true. They broke apart, and turned to see us all.

"Lizzie, this is James' mum and dad – Mr and Mrs Potter. They're like my family too," he smiled in gratitude at them, and Mrs Potter hugged Lizzie and Sirius too afterwards. Mr and Mrs Potter were definitely like Sirius' surrogate parents – James, on the quiet, had told me about Sirius' troubled family. How he had always been considered the inferior child to Regulus after being sorted into Gryffindor; his mother constantly disappointed in him, especially when he had told her outright, at sixteen, that there was no way in hell he would ever join the Death Eaters. And at that point, he ran away.

"Nice to meet you Lizzie," Mr Potter said, shaking her hand.

"We'll just be in the kitchen – food should be ready in about half an hour," Mrs Potter said friendlily, and we went back into the living room.

"LILY!" Lizzie exclaimed, hugging me.

Lizzie looked really happy. Her hair was pushed back into a hat (due to the snow), her face was makeup-free but she was glowing. She was wearing a thick, but stylish, grey jumper with blue jeans and black boots.

"Let's PARTTTTTYYY!" James hollered, about to put the music on. Lizzie pulled the hat off her head – her previously waist-length blonde hair was now cut to just past her shoulders, and was wavy. It looked absolutely amazing.

"Wow, your hair!" Sirius said, in what was meant as a complimenting way – Lizzie blushed and danced around to the music with us.

"Food's ready," Mrs Potter finally said, popping her head round the door – luckily we hadn't broken out into momentary passion yet so all she walked in on was us dancing like lunatics.

*

"We'll see you on New Year's Eve, then, Lily," Mr Potter said, as James and I stood on the doorstep, ready to leave. Sirius had already left with Lizzie to go to her house.

"Thanks again for everything, I had a lovely time," I said as Mrs Potter hugged me.

"No worries, dear, we'll see you soon!" she said, and James and I wandered round the corner, had a quick kiss, and apparated back to our usual group of trees opposite my house.

"Christmas tomorrow!" I squealed excitedly as we left the little group of trees.

"I know, I can't wait!" he screeched in a voice as equally as energized as mine.

"I can't either, _Potter_," we heard a low, familiar voice from behind us. We span round.

There stood Severus, his greasy black hair pushed back across his head, wearing baggy clothes, his wand drawn, pointed directly at James. James had his arm around me, and tightened his grip as soon as he saw Severus.

"What do you want, Snape?" James glowered. James didn't draw his wand – he was too gallant to attack somebody in the middle of my street.

"All I want for Christmas is the end of you, Potter," he sneered. I couldn't believe I had ever been friends with him – I was best friends with him up until fifth year on that day when he called me a– well, I tried to forget about it.

"Don't bother with puns or jokes, Snivellus, they do not suit you. Now, can you put your wand away so me and my petal can go and enjoy Christmas?" James snarled.

"Enjoy Christmas, I hope you don't mean _together_? You're not sleeping with this pile of dragon dung, are you, Lily?" Severus growled.

"No! How _dare_ you ask such a personal question!" I said, suddenly finding my voice. "You gave up the right to asking me questions when you put an end to our friendship and insulted me in front of everybody!"

"Well it's a good job you're not sleeping with him, otherwise his stupidity mixed with your blood would culminate in producing the biggest bunch of incomparable idiots ever seen on this earth," he said coolly.

"You are such a jealous b–" James began to retort, but I stopped him.

"Think that if you like Severus. But I love James more than anything on earth. And nothing you can say – whether you insult me, apologise, grovel or curse – will have any effect on me anymore. You gave up being in my life when you called me a mudblood. James will always be there to keep me safe. He won't run off with his pure-blood maniac friends and try to cover up his relationship with a muggle-born. He's a kind-hearted, intelligent, hard-working, funny, amazing person. Someone you'll never match up to in my eyes. Go find your Slytherin pure-bloods as I am obviously not, and never will be, good enough to have your friendship. And quite frankly, I do not want it anymore," I said calmly. I did not care what he thought of me – I had said what I needed to say.

"He is wrong for you, Lily," Severus said in such a pathetic voice it almost made me laugh.

"What, and you're right for her? What would you know about it Snape?" James glared at him.

"A lot more than you do," Severus said angrily.

"I do not think so," James countered.

"Who were you in Lily's eyes for five years? Potter, you were a piece of scum who annoyed the hell out of her," Severus yelled.

"PEOPLE CHANGE, SNAPE!" I roared. "You taught me that."

"Just leave, Snape. You're making a bigger fool out of yourself than you already have," James added.

"Right, that's IT, _cruc_–" Severus yelled, pointing his wand at James ominously.

"DON'T YOU DARE!" I screamed, and suddenly, Severus stopped, and ran.

I began to sob into James' chest, and he patted me on the back, soothing me in the middle of the street.

"Don't worry, Lily, everything is going to be okay," he whispered – and I believed him. Nobody made me feel safer than James, his presence was something I never wanted to be absent of.

*

Because I felt so safe in his presence, I made him promise he would meet me at the church straight away on New Year's Eve. My parents dropped me off at the church – they would be bringing my sister, the bride, and the bridesmaids, fashionably late.

And when I emerged from the car, he came out of the trees, wearing the drop-dead-gorgeous grey suit and looking absolutely amazing. He did a double-take when he saw me: dressed in my emerald dress, matching high heels and jacket, my hair straight and kept back by a messy French plait across my forehead.

"Lily, you look beautiful," he whispered in my ear, and we kissed passionately, not caring who was watching.

We heard a cough behind us, and quickly sprang apart. It was some of my sister's work colleagues, and we directed them into the church, taking our own seats. We were sat a row back from the front, and James' parents, who had just arrived, were sitting two rows behind us. The groom's side was filling up rapidly – in James' words, "Who knew the walrus had friends?"

Suddenly, Vernon Dursley entered. I had to elbow James in the ribs to stop him from laughing.

Vernon was wearing a charcoal suit, with an ice blue waistcoat, matching tie, and a carnation on his button hole. Amazingly, they had found a suit large enough to fit him, but his many chins were overflowing the neck of his shirt. His face, as usual, was purple, but concealed under much moustache. Not the most attractive man ever, needless to say.

It seemed the only person we were waiting for was the bride. Namely, Petunia. Being the most attention-seeking person in the world, she would no doubt arrive as late as possible – much later than the fashionably late time window.

Five minutes passed.

"Vernon does look _particularly_ attractive in that suit, doesn't he, my petal?" James whispered. I grinned. "He is so much more attractive than myself, don't you think?" he added, stroking his chin in a thinking pose.

"Hmmn, yes, definitely," I teased, and he kissed my cheek, receiving a warning cough from my prudish Auntie Violet.

Ten minutes passed.

"Merlin, where is she?" James murmured, glancing at his watch.

"Merlin knows where," I replied, craning my neck to look around the church.

Fifteen minutes passed.

"I wish she'd hurry up, I seriously need a wee!" James moaned in my ear, making me giggle, earning curious looks from the other people there.

"You should've gone before you came," I said in a mock-warning voice.

"Yes, but the toilet wasn't gold. It didn't sing 'Land of Hope and Glory'. And it wasn't the 'Official Marauder Bog'," James explained, as if this was the most rational explanation in the world. Coming from him, it probably was.

"Let me get this straight – you only go to the toilet if it fits those criteria?" I asked.

"Yep," he grinned.

"But that means you haven't gone to the toilet since before we left school – because that's the only toilet that fulfils those criteria?" I said in disgust.

"You got that right, Lily," he smiled charmingly. I took a step away.

Twenty minutes passed.

"Sorry Lily, I have been since then. I was only joking to pass the time!" he whined.

"Fine, but don't ever make jokes like that again," I warned.

"What, that I haven't been to the loo since before Christmas?"

"Yes, that precise one," I smirked.

Twenty-five minutes passed.

"Where is the bloody bride? We can't wait forever, you know. We might have a pressing engagement for after the wedding," James whispered.

"James?"

"Yes, my petal?"

"Our pressing engagement is the wedding reception. Which cannot go ahead if the wedding hasn't taken place," I pointed out.

"Oh Merlin."

"You got that right."

Thirty minutes passed, and suddenly, the doors swung open. Music began to play, and Petunia was led up the aisle by my dad. It was quite sweet really – Vernon's eyes lit up and I saw the best man mouth something to the ceiling which looked vaguely like, "Thank God."

It was romantic really, and when they said the vows, it made me all sentimental. It would perhaps be _me_ saying those vows in a few years' time. Hopefully with James.

Yes, I wanted to marry James. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. I wanted to be Mrs James Potter. I wanted to be Mrs Prongs. I wanted to be the wife of James, in our little cottage in Godric's Hollow, rearing our children. I wanted my life to be like that. Mapped out, with James being at the core.

"You may now kiss the bride," I heard, snapping me out of my incessant daydreaming.

They kissed each other, and walked down the aisle together, and we followed them out.

"My petal, are you crying?" James asked. I sniffed.

"I love weddings," I explained – I wasn't crying because of the union of the horse and the walrus. I was tearful because of the future I had just mapped out in my head with James. I don't think I had ever wanted anything more than that.

"Okay, love," he said calmly, and hugged me close. Petunia threw the bouquet of flowers, and amazingly... I caught them. Everybody turned to look at me, with James and his arm around me, and grinned like mad people.

"Looks like your sister will be following you up the aisle soon, Petunia!" I heard Vernon's best man, a tall skinny fellow called Duncan, yell. I blushed, but was happy.

The hotel where the wedding reception was being held was only a ten minute walk from the church – it was a large country house converted into an expensive hotel, and was set in acres of rolling lawns which no doubt James, our friends and I would be running about on later, having the time of our lives.

The others would be arriving after the wedding meal, when the party would be taking place. I, for one, was very hungry, and couldn't wait to tuck into some food.

James and I walked hand in hand, me carrying the bouquet, to the hotel. James' parents walked ahead with mine.

"Do you think you'll ever get married one day, my petal?" James asked as the hotel came into view.

"I hope so," I smiled. I didn't add my second thought, _to you._

We were ushered into the hotel, and to the large room where we would be having the meal. It was lovely, high ceiling, large windows, round tables with blue table cloths and decorations. Everybody took their seats – James and I were sat next to each other on a table with James' parents, Auntie Violet, my other Auntie Olivia, with her husband Uncle David and my cousin, who was fourteen, nearly fifteen, Emma. Emma was sat on the other side of James, and seemed quite taken with him.

Emma herself was a pretty girl – chocolate coloured hair, olive eyes, pale skin, raspberry lips (with the aid of carefully applied lipstick) and a raspberry fitted shift dress and heels. But James ignored any suggestiveness on her part (she was an incredibly flirtatious teenager after all) and never really took his eyes off me. With him next to me, I felt secure.

I enjoyed the meal too. Speeches were made – Duncan the best man made a very interesting speech about Vernon's pyjamas or something, and Petunia's dress made her look like Audrey Hepburn, or something along the lines of that, I wasn't really listening.

Soup was followed by a roast dinner – which James tucked into with relish – and then chocolate fudge cake with warm fudge sauce. He managed to get that all round his mouth, making me giggle as I wiped it off with a napkin.

It was then that we left the room so it could be readied for the party, and we went outside to meet the others. They had apparated into a secluded area behind a large oak tree in the corner of the grounds, and at about seven o'clock they began to arrive.

First Sirius and Lizzie appeared – Sirius wearing a black suit, with a red tie, which was slightly loose, giving him an effortlessly casual look. Holding his hand was Lizzie, who was wearing a scarlet dress and dark grey coat and high heels, her hair curled in a Marilyn Monroe way. Then came Remus and Rebecca – Remus in a dark green suit and Rebecca in a blue dress, coat and shoes. Eden and Rhys arrived, both looking extremely smart and lovely. The last to arrive were Rhiannon and Jasper, Rhiannon's hair curled exquisitely and Jasper looked very nice in his blue suit.

"I think we should race across this grass!" Sirius said excitedly.

"Maybe we should go and meet Lily's parents first, and congratulate the bride and groom," Lizzie suggested. Overall, we all decided this was the more sensible choice and decided to do this first – and then proceed to race across the grass, in the cold.

We all went inside, past members of the wedding party who were drinking beers and wines and spirits from the bar, and tried to find my parents and Petunia and Vernon.

We found my parents quickly – they were drinking red wine at a table with Vernon's parents and James' parents. Vernon's father didn't seem to like James' parents very much, but his wife seemed to have taken to James' father like a fish to water. It was quite amusing to watch – she was already (Vernon's mother) considerably tipsy and was downing glasses of wine like there was no tomorrow.

"Mum, Dad, here are my friends," I introduced, and Mum and Dad welcomed them to the wedding and they thanked them for inviting them.

Sirius immediately wandered over to the bar – purchasing ten large drinks, and seemed most put out that the barmaid had thought him stark-raving mad when he had requested ten Butterbeers. When she had said they had nothing by the name of Butterbeer, he sneakily asked for ten Firewhiskies. She then declined having any of that. So he requested ten Pumpkin Juices. She raised her eyebrow, so he desperately asked for Gillywater. By which point she was getting rather narked with him and told him he could have ten glasses of white wine, which he duly accepted.

We made ourselves comfortable sitting on sofas at the top of the sweeping staircase – I could see Emma chatting rather closely to one of Vernon's relations, a surprisingly good-looking boy who seemed rather interested in Emma. Obviously he wasn't as good-looking as James, but he was reasonable enough.

"PARTY'S READY!" I heard Duncan bellow. He had blatantly consumed numerous beers and spirits and was having to be supported by his plump girlfriend, who had squeezed herself into a purple strapless dress.

Everybody filtered from the bar into the main room, where Petunia and Vernon where. A DJ had set up in the corner, and put a slow romantic song on for the newlyweds to dance to.

I noticed James slip away to talk to my parents briefly as Sirius was requesting a song of the DJ – no doubt some fast-paced Muggle rock song which he could head bang to – and wondered what he was talking to them about.

As expected, Sirius' rock song came on and he went away with Lizzie, dancing madly. Remus and Rebecca joined them, but Rhiannon and Jasper and Rhys and Eden remained seated at the table we had claimed as our own.

James came rushing back, his hand closed around something. I didn't quiz him, but he turned and caught Sirius' eye, and I swear I saw them nod at each other. And then, Sirius nodded at Lizzie, who nodded at Rebecca, who nodded at Remus, who came over to the table and began to whisper something to the others. Was there some big joke I wasn't in on?

I watched my mum walk over to Petunia and Vernon, who looked as if they were trying to argue, but nodded. What was with all this nodding? It was like a nodding festival at the horse and walrus wedding!

Then I observed her wander over to the DJ, who stopped the music.

"ATTENTION EVERYBODY!" the DJ yelled, and everybody took their seats, leaving James and I standing, and our friends, who assembled into a little group by the DJ booth. "JAMES POTTER WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A SPEECH!"

Everybody began to look excited at this, even straitlaced Auntie Violet, who looked giddy after drinking two small glasses of red wine.

Silence overtook the room, and even Vernon and Petunia looked interested. James took my hand and pulled me to the middle of the dance floor.

"Lily, there's something I have to say to you," he said softly, but loud and clear enough so that the whole reception could hear him. "But – when it comes to issues like this, I have no idea how to order my words. I become all of a wreck. But I thought of a way to sum up my words – and this is through the talent of our friends."

Everybody turned to look at our friends, who were standing in a line, all nine of them, by the DJ. On cue, the DJ began some music. I vaguely recognised it – and noticed that our friends were singing. Carefully, I listened to the lyrics.

"_Today is gonna be the day that they're gonna throw it back to you, by now, you shoulda, somehow, realised what you gotta do. I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do, about you now_," they sang slowly and tunefully.

"_Back beat, the word is on the street that the fire in your heart is out. I'm sure, you've heard it all before, but you've never really had a doubt. I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now_.

"_And all the roads we have to walk are winding. And all the lights that lead us there are blinding. There are many things that I would like to say to you but I don't know how_.

"_Because maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me. And after all, you're my wonderwall_," they sang. Tears began to roll down my cheeks at how beautiful the lyrics were. These words were what James wanted to say to me.

"Lily," he turned to me, once our friends had finished singing. "I love you. I always have, and I always will. You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, you're the most intelligent person I know, I love you more than anything in the world.

"I cannot imagine myself getting through every day without you, Lily. You mean everything to me, and I need you to survive. I love you, and I want to be with you for the rest of my life," he said, and got down on one knee, producing a ring out of his hand. It was simple – a silver band with a small diamond shining in it. It was beautiful.

"Lily Evans, will you marry me?" he asked.

You could practically hear the sharp intake of breath from everybody in the room.

How had James known about all my thoughts today? About how I wanted to spend my whole entire life with him...

"James Potter – until a few years ago, I disliked you with a passion. And I was so misguided, so set in my ways, that I made the mistake of thinking my love was hate. Until one day, it hit me right in the face. That I loved you, James Potter. And I wanted, I _want_, to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to be Mrs James Potter. I want to be Mrs Prongs. I want to be your wife, James, the wife of James Potter – I want my life to be exactly like that, mapped out, with you at the core of everything I do. I cannot imagine my life without you. You're charming, funny, delightful, handsome, entertaining, clever, hard-working... I love you. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So, James, that's a yes. I would love to marry you, to become your wife, and live with you forever and ever," I said, with great emotion.

Everybody cheered as James put the engagement ring on my finger, and we enveloped ourselves in a large hug, which evolved into a passionate kiss.

However, everyone else was now on the dance floor, dancing to the rest of the song, whilst James and I kept ourselves firmly together, not breaking apart for air, not wanting to ever let go.

_

* * *

_

Did you like that? PLEASE tell me you did! As it's a very, very, VERY long chapter could you please review? I'd love to get to over 200... This isn't the last chapter, there are still 2 more to go after this, so brace yourselves! Have a brilliant new year and thanks for reading!

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	33. The Women In White

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: Thank you so, so, SO much to everybody who reviewed the next chapter, the response was overwhelming: wannabe witch11, jammi94, clueless c, vanillabean18, Sam-EvansBlue, shroomy-eyes, Stephie Cat-Kat, MaloryCullen14, Lala~, AryaandEragon1, Rider Arya Svit-Kona, aliceinwonderland2000, junebugbug96, NJ, .limits111, Kuroi Kasai, sarlovesoccer, GeorgiaPeach20 and lily-james-forevs thank you so much!!! Thank you to aliceinwonderland2000 for adding my story to your favourites and thank you to GeorgiaPeach20, aliceinwonderland2000 and connor-rox for adding my story to your alert subscriptions :) Well, this is the last but one chapter and I am going to update with the final chapter as soon as the clock hits twelve so please review!!!!

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Two**

**THE WOMEN IN WHITE**

The flowers smelled delicious – roses, carnations and lilies decorated the historic stone church, echoed in my bouquet. Sun streamed in through the colourful stained glass windows, turning the light inside the church every colour imaginable in the spectrum.

As I entered, the sheer white material of my dress billowed in the summer breeze, the lace light and soft on my skin, my netted veil concealing my beaming face. The church in Godric's Hollow was a quaint little countryside, village church. It was absolutely charming. But not nearly as charming as the man standing at the altar.

He was wearing a grey suit, with a pale green tie and a lily through his buttonhole. Despite the tidiness of his attire, his messy black hair remained uncontrollable – I loved that about him. His hazel eyes, when he turned round, glistened magnificently, reflecting the rainbow colours from the windows. He smiled. I loved that about him too...

I couldn't imagine my life without him. Our names were practically stuck together – not one thought without the other summoned into thinking too. He was my rock, I loved him more than life itself. I wanted desperately to spend the rest of my life with him. I couldn't imagine it any other way.

Next to me walked another bride. Dressed in white, her love was standing for her at the altar too. His shoulder length, curly, dark hair was shining in the light, as were his dark eyes. He smiled at his radiant blonde bride who was walking up the aisle beside me. Their eyes never left each other like an invisible magnet was compelling them to be kept in contact.

On the front row, sat a brunette lady with a pretty face, next to a handsome, fair-haired man. Rhiannon Rathbone held her baby girl, Isabella, close. Her husband Jasper had his little finger in Isabella's inquisitive grasp, smiling brightly at his baby daughter. Isabella had the same piercing eyes as her mother, and the same wispy blonde hair as her father. She was already a beautiful baby, mirroring her beautiful parents. They cooed over her whilst also beaming at Lizzie and I.

Next to her was another pretty woman, with her husband. Eden Wilkes had a huge baby bump, hidden elegantly beneath a dark blue dress that rippled down her body, swaying slightly in the breeze. Her husband Rhys held her hand tightly, grinning at his wife like there was no-one else. The amorous look in her eyes defined how much in love they were with each other.

Everybody had married quickly in our year - the war with Voldemort was imminent and they didn't want to be separated from their loved ones without making it official. James and I were the first to get engaged, then quickly followed Sirius and Lizzie, Eden and Rhys and Rhiannon and Jasper. We married in the summer of our nineteenth year, and already Rhiannon and Jasper were married and had a baby girl and Eden and Rhys were quickly following them with Eden's baby.

My parents smiled at me. Beside them, sat my sister and her husband Vernon. I remembered eight months ago we had been at her wedding – I was getting married _because_ of her wedding; I had been proposed to at her wedding reception in front of everybody by the playing of my now-favourite song. A song I couldn't get enough of.

My entire family were grinning at me – they all loved my fiancé. They found him entertaining, funny and clever. Much how I found him. Except I could add more adjectives to that than they could ever muster up. In my eyes, he was perfection itself. He was the bane of my being and I lived to be his wife. There was no other way to describe it – it was not infatuation, it was love. Real love.

On the grooms' side, sat an immensely happy couple – Remus Lupin and Rebecca Villade were soon to be married. They held hands, the thin, tall, kind-hearted and gentle werewolf and the elegant, blonde, beautiful and exotic French girl. She was wiping the occasional tear out of her grey eyes. He was beaming at his two friends standing at the altar, looking at their fiancées as if there was nobody else. For them, there was nobody else. We were flawlessly matched. It was our destinies to be together. Nobody could come between us, no matter what, we would be together. Together forever, eternally.

We stopped at the altar. The ceremony passed, James and I not taking our eyes off each other.

"Do you, James Harold Potter, take Lily Rose Evans, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?" the priest asked.

"I do."

"Do you, Lily Rose Evans, take James Harold Potter, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?" the priest posed.

"I do."

James smiled radiantly at me – I practically went weak at the knees with his smile. I saw him smile at me every day, numerous times, but I never grew sick of it.

"Do you, Sirius Orion Black, take Elizabeth Marianne Armstrong, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?" the priest asked.

"I do."

"Do you, Elizabeth Marianne Armstrong, take Sirius Orion Black, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?" the priest posed.

"I do."

Lizzie and Sirius gazed at each other longingly.

"I now pronounce you _both_ man and wife – you may kiss your brides," the priest smiled.

Music played as James swept me off my feet, kissing me ardently, me kissing back, me being held close to his body, the breeze rippling through my veil, now discarded over the back of my head, the smell of the beautiful flowers adding to the scene faultlessly...

This was our first kiss as man and wife. A kiss of true love. I knew absolutely this was what I wanted. What we wanted; together, we were stronger.

And that is how I married James Potter.

_

* * *

_

Awwww... imagine the wedding in Pride and Prejudice, the Colin Firth version (see my profile pic) where they have a double wedding, or in Calamity Jane where Calam marries Wild Bill and Katie marries Danny Gilmartin :) I love romance! Please review and have the happiest new year ever,

:) x Lily Orange x (:


	34. Epilogue

**Such Sweethearts**

_By Lily Orange_

_Summary_: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?

_Disclaimer_: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.

_A/N_: Well, this is the END of the story! Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for reviewing and following this story :) I hope you like this slightly amusing end to the story and please review your hearts out! Have an amazing 2010 full of fun, happiness and success at everything you do.

* * *

**Epilogue**

Dear Padfoot,

I have some very important news to tell you. Even more important than the time when I snogged Lily on top of that cliff in Cornwall... actually, I didn't tell you about that, you saw from the beach. Which was just what I needed, to be honest, my best mates seeing me kissing her. Although it probably was pretty hard to miss – but you didn't have to cheer at the end and sing 'Crazy Thing Called Love' and change the words so that it was 'James has a Crazy Disease Called Love'. But I have to hand it to you mate, you have the most entertaining singing voice out of anyone I know.

Anyway, I need to stop my digression. Important news, right.

Hang on, why aren't I just telling you this? I have my apparating license for crying out loud. And there are our mirrors. Plus you only live round the corner. Owl post is much more satisfying, though, isn't it? My mirror is in the bottom of my sock draw and at present I am sitting in the kitchen whilst Lily is watching the film you sent her – I have to admit, 'Dumbo' is a sweet film. Who knew a baby elephant could be so amusing?

I don't really want to leave Lily alone, because of all these muggle-born attacks by Lord Voldemort. Not she opposes this much, because it means we get to spend our time together. Which I quite obviously enjoy – but enough of the details.

My news! I'm actually going to tell you the news now!

Lily is _pregnant_! We're having a baby Prongs! How utterly amazing is that?

I can just see your face now. I can also imagine what you are going to say. So I am going to answer all your nosy questions for you.

You know you're my best mate really.

First of all, I am not going to tell you how it happened. A grown man like you should know, and I remember what you were like when we had to have that talk in first year about the facts of life. You were so excited you practically wet yourself. In fact, I think you very nearly did, but then we quickly christened that toilet in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom as the Official Marauder Bog so you could go swiftly. Even though it was in the girl's bathroom.

Lily's reaction to your question of how would be would you like her to draw you a diagram. To which you would promptly reply no, thank Merlin. We do not want a diagram like that lying around for somebody to find.

Also, answer to your probable second question – no, the baby was not bought to us by storks. I know that is what you fantasise about, but Padfoot that is not what happens. Just because you are in love with the film 'Dumbo' does not mean it is based on real life. I know you will contradict me here so I'm going to leave the rant regarding storks bringing babies.

So what do you think for names? I suggested Elvendork, which is the name we wanted in Hogwarts. It _is_unisex after all, so would save us the trouble of thinking of a boy's name and a girl's name. Lily likes the name Harry for a boy, which I agree with. Harry James Potter. I quite like that. But if it's a girl, I suggested Thumbelina. Which Lily said no to, and I can't quite fathom why. It has to be one of the most awesome names in existence. Apart from Elvendork, obviously, but then again that does not technically exist because we made it up. So then Lily asked what I thought of Mary or Alice. I think Alice is sweet, especially Alice Lily, as that is what her middle name will be.

I can't wait till the baby is born – the thirty-first of July is the due date, a week before our first wedding anniversary. It's so exciting!

How's married life treating you Padfoot? You and Lizzie make a very good couple, especially seeing as you both share a fondness for Disney films, although I remember her telling Lily when you were last over (which was an hour ago, but we forgot about our news then) that you had an argument over which film you would watch first – 'Robin Hood' or 'Dumbo'. She also said that after a brief moment of arguing, you lapsed into a full on snogging session. Good work, mate, I'm proud.

Moony is coming around later with Rebecca – they're getting married in August, aren't they? Obviously the wedding won't coincide with full moon, but we need to come up with a good song to sing at the reception. Bring your record collection round later and we'll pick one with Moony. Lily's baking a chocolate fudge cake.

I can just see your ears pricking up at the sound of food – even though last time you came round for tea you bought a big bowl of Lizzie's carrot cake to consume after dinner because you said you were addicted to it.

Anyway, enough of me rambling Padfoot. Six months and our baby will be born! Mine and Lily's, obviously, not mine and yours. That would be quite frankly silly, besides impossible.

See you later, can't wait for the Marauder madness – whilst Lily wasn't looking, I managed to turn our toilet gold, and make it sing 'Land of Hope and Glory' when it flushes! The good old days, eh? We'll have to christen it later of course.

Bye,

Prongs

_

* * *

_

Thank you so much for reading and following my story and writing all those lovely things in the reviews. Have a cracker of a year and please review to your heart's content! :)

:) x Lily Orange x (:


End file.
